Beware of Flying Shopping Carts

I usually don't have much to say about my weekends because, quite frankly, they aren't very interesting. A regular weekend for me usually involves cleaning the house, talking to my mother on the phone, and cooking a large amount of food that will result in leftovers throughout the week. Really riveting stuff.

But this weekend, do I have a story for you.

On Saturday, I decided to take a trip to Ralphs for some groceries. As I was in the canned goods aisle, searching for the most cost-effective chicken broth, I saw a man walking towards me. He was middle-aged, pushing an empty shopping cart, and talking loudly to himself. The "talking loudly to himself" should have been an indication that something bizarre was about to occur.

From about fifteen feet away, the man made direct eye contact with me, and then proceeded to shove his shopping cart and forcefully launch it from his hands. DIRECTLY AT ME. You read that correctly: a shopping cart was flung at me in the middle of a grocery store.

Luckily I was far enough that I was able to dive out of the way, unhurt.

I was in shock, as you might imagine. But I was more shocked when Crazy Man asked me, "Where's the tomatoes?," as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. By this time he was about three feet away from me, causing my internal alarms to go off. "Get away from me," I said with all the threat I could muster. He then started shouting expletives at me, attracting the attention of other people in the store.

I ran to the first Ralphs employee I could find, and told him that a man was assaulting customers in the store, and maybe they should DO something about that. They ended up escorting him out of the store. Thinking back, the police really should have been called.

So there you go. I was assaulted by a guy with a shopping cart in Ralphs. I have lived in the inner-city of Los Angeles for nine years, and have some pretty strange things. But this one really wins first place.

And yes, I realize this is the second post in a row about strange encounters with random men. What can I say? I am a weirdo magnet.