Wine & Cheeze Whiz

My youngest gal and I were traveling through the upscale village of Friendswood last Friday, and happened to stop at a Shell Stop and Rob store for a Dr Pepper. This particular store is only a few hundred yards from an elementary school, and is on the right side on the approach to the beginnings of neighborhoods.

As we pulled up to the curb and got out, I noticed through the glass door a wine rack filled with long, slender bottles. A big fluorescent splat hung off of the left side shouting “$9.99.”

I commented to my daughter, “Hmm, I wonder if they sell a lot of wine here…” We headed back to the coolers at the back, and to my surprise was another section of wines, with prices up to about $15 a bottle. And there were some in the cooler already, too!
I thought it strange to have wine above the “Ripple” level in a convenience store, and a pretty good variety, it looked like.

On arriving at the counter to check out, a little Chinese man popped up and asked if we found everything OK. I said yes, and as he scanned our chosen soft drinks, my little reporter asked him, “So do you sell much wine here?”

At first he didn’t seem to hear, so I repeated her question.

“Oh, yes, yes, we sell a lot of wine, yes!”
“Do you sell a lot to the elementary school students?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh, no, no, ha ha!”
“Mostly the teachers, I’ll bet, right?”
“Ha ha, oh yes, ha ha, no, ha ha!”

Driving away, I thought it odd that in the same place, you could buy your $15 bottle of wine, a bag of pork rinds and a jar of Cheeze Whiz. The trailer park version of the wine and cheese tasting party.