Chocolate from cowboy heaven...by way of Walmart

PK and I trekked on down to the closest WalMart Super-dee-duper-center to get some j-rice and a jar of kim chee. The only other stores I've found nearby that carry these two much needed items in my household are the Asian grocery stores just north of downtown OKC - a good hour drive for me.

Amazingly, the Walmart Super-freakin'-center about 30 minutes south of my small town, carries both items on a regular basis.

My steady hands gripping the cart with PK riding shotgun, we made our way for the entrance nearest to the groceries. Just outside the 40-odd doors of the southern entrance, I noticed several young high school types hocking candy bars as a fundraiser for their church school.

Myself being a hardened veteran of C's Campfire Kids USA candy sale, and her elementary school candy/nuts/cookie dough/frozen desserts fundraiser, I nodded knowingly to the tall freckly girl in the middle and murmered that I would swing by on our way out.

Unfortunately for them, I exited the building from the north entrance (oxymoron, I know), a good 7 clicks (WalMart Supercenters are marathon man huge) from where the waifish Baptists were selling their quickly melting candy bars (it was unseasonably warm and in the high 70's that day).

I completely spaced on my murmered promise until I was more than half way done overstuffing the 1 cubic-foot of available space in Otto's trunk with freshly purchased Wal-groceries.

Oh well. The church school loses out and my family goes cocoa-bean less for another night.

Just as I slam dunk the trunk, out of nowhere, a tall, slim stranger, wearing a tan-suede cowboy hat (I couldn't make this stuff up), steps up, hands me one of the huge almond-laced chocolate bars that the girls were selling and says in what had to be the best non-Brokeback Mountain cowboy twang I've ever heard, "Here ya go, pardner. I don'ta each this here chocolate, but I wannid' ta support them gals and their school."
With that, he tipped his hat to my 3-year old who was staring in awe at the parting cowboy.

I felt like yelling, Shane! Come back Shane! We love you Shane!"