Isn’t it funny how stores carry things nobody would ever buy? You’ve seen them before. You know what I’m talking about. How many times have we seen a shirt hanging on a rack, feeling bad for it because it would sooner be bought as a gag gift than as a shirt someone actually wanted? Or that food item you looked quizzically at, and almost gagged at the thought of it going anywhere near your taste buds? We’ve all seen these items, wishing the stores would quit wasting their shelf space, and buy more things that we need. That people would realistically want.

But then, I began to think. Think beyond myself, and look at the bigger picture of what a store is and what it aims to do. A store is not meant to cater to one person, but rather an entire community of different individuals. What if the stuff I buy, is the stuff other people think nobody would ever want? Perhaps the thing I’m so thankful my store carries is the same item other people feel bad for because nobody, in their mind, would buy it. Who am I to say what other people want? What other people need? As living creatures, we all have our own preferences. Our own favorites. Our own weird thing that we claim is ours and nobody else’s. Just like a clock needs specific cogs in order to tick, we all need different things to keep us alive. To keep us happy.

So I guess I should thank stores for carrying things I think I’d never need, because that is exactly what led me to you. I wasn’t looking for you when you turned into my aisle, asking for help reaching that thing you needed (that I had no idea even existed.) I was taken aback by your enthusiasm while convincing me that it was the best thing ever and that I was crazy for not knowing what it was. The way your eyes lit up and the way you insisted I couldn’t live another day without it is what got me to eventually give in and get it for myself. And you were right, it was the best thing ever, and I can’t believe I spent my whole life not knowing who you were.