All Over the Map

It was 1999 and my kids were around 8 and 10.  I picked them up from school and we headed to the Vons in Escondido to buy some groceries on the way home.  We filled up the cart with the usual staples – vegetables, fruit, milk, bread, peanut butter, chicken -- and they snuck in a box of sugary cereal in the hopes that I wouldn’t notice or care.  Deciding not to care, I had them help me load everything onto the counter.  I handed the cashier my credit card and she tried scanning it.  “I’m sorry but it’s been declined,” she said apologetically.   My checkbook was in my purse, but I knew there wasn’t enough in our bank account to cover the groceries which was why I was using the credit card.  Since the work had stopped coming in my husband and I had been using our credit card for everything.   After trying a few more times there was nothing we could do but leave our groceries and walk out the store.  I remember the p...