Nov. 9, 2012 

It’s Friday in Mableton, Ga., and the parking lot at the K Mart-Dollar Store Parking lot is full of large American pickup trucks driven by Mexicans. We have come here to buy milk. I have my milk habit down to just a tablespoon, or so, every once in a while in my hot tea, and, now, I am out. K Mart’s milk is a dollar more than it costs at all the surrounding grocery stores, so on principal I head out. As we left, we priced a funky plastic tree, and then laughed: no tree this year. We price a gift for the grandkids, and laughed. No expensive presents for the grandkids this year. We find a small milk for a buck, at the dollar store, but when I get to the front there is only one lane open, and the lady who would have been in front of me has left no room for anything else: her cart is filled to the top. I just didn’t feel like waiting through all that to get some milk, so I said fuck it and we went home.

--Mikel K