What, Me Worry?

Have you ever found yourself getting anxious about doing an activity you really shouldn't worry about? I mean, it is one thing to get worried before you do something for the first time and it is also totally normal to get nervous if you are about to do something really dangerous. The first day at a new job is always a little awkward and I'm pretty sure skydiving is going to put your stomach in knots no matter how many times you have done it before. But what I'm talking about is the silly idea of worrying about something which is not dangerous and has been done many times before, yet for some reason it still causes you to question yourself. For example, I always find myself slightly anxious when I go to buy alcohol. For some reason there is a small part of my brain which makes me think they are going to refuse to sell it to me and make a scene while doing so. This is, of course, an absurd notion because I'm 32 years old. That means I have been able to legally buy beer for a longer period of time then when I wanted it but couldn't have it. So, as long as I had the cash on me not only should I not be worried about buying alcohol, I shouldn't even be thinking about it when I do.

But, this afternoon I was in a grocery store which sold beer and wine. Now, I hadn't intended to buy beer when I went food shopping, but when I saw it in the aisle I decided to make the impulse purchase. (Every now and again I get the urge to do something just because I can and this was one of those times.) So, I threw a six-pack in my cart and did the rest of my shopping without incident. I was barely paying attention as I was being rung up, much more concerned about whether or not the bagger was crushing my bread, when all of a sudden a very stern-looking teenager came over who I can only assume was the head cashier and asked to see my ID. Since I was older than him I handed it over without pausing, but for half a second I was convinced I had just gotten busted for something. Fortunately he decided my ID was real and allowed me to buy the beer, because I'm not sure what I would have done if this 18 year-old demanded I respect his authority. (Honestly, I'm not sure anyone that young-looking should be in charge of anything. If there had been an issue I think my first move would have been to ask to speak to his mother.)

[Sidebar: In case you were wondering, I just got normal, run-of-the-mill beer. I catch a lot of crap for my taste in beer, because people often think my choices are boring. But what they don't realize is that my picks come from frequently getting burned by previous daring, yet disappointing, selections. In thinking about it, I can't remember the last time I was satisfied by anything which claimed to be an 'ale'. You would think by now I would remember that there is a reason microbrews exist - no one like them enough to turn them into mega-brews. They all have interesting names and impressive labels, but underwhelming contents inside the bottle. Instead I talk myself into the fact that this could be the time an ale didn't taste like piss only to be let down. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Next time you are at a party pay wander by the cooler at the end of the night and pay special attention to which brand of beer has the most left over, because I'm pretty sure it won't be Bud Lite. This is how I typically end up with some kind of ale in my fridge and rather them throw them out (which I should know to do by now) I hang on to them for a couple days, give them a try and then pour the rest down the sink. I want you all to remember this next time you are on your way to a party and decide to buy something at the last minute - there is no need to buy some brand no one else has heard of just to look worldly. Buy something which will actually be consumed and the host will appreciate not losing the fridge space for the next couple of days.]

You would assume this strange apprehension came from an incident years ago in which I tried to buy beer with a fake ID, got caught and was traumatized by the experience. The only problem with that theory is that it never happened. I was the nerd who was content to wait until I was at the legal drinking age to go into liquor stores, so I really can't explain it. (In a rather ironic twist, once I turned 21 I found out I could have been buying beer for years because I rarely got carded. Apparently I looked much older then, because now I get carded all the time.) I think the real reason I was so thrown off about this was that I was kind of surprised to see the display in the first place, as the last thing I remember hearing about this issue was that Massachusetts voters had rejected the measure to allow beer in grocery stores. (Shows you how much attention I pay to both local politics and the configuration to the grocery stores in my area.) That surprise at seeing beer two aisles away from the cereal probably added to the urge to buy some because since I wasn't expecting it being able to buy some made it feel almost like I was benefiting from someone else's screw-up. It caused me to act as though I need to take advantage of or else this opportunity would not be available to me next time I was here. Apparently before I go shopping next time I should brush up on my local polling results, or else this could start to get rather expensive.