A new standard we should all live by:

If you have a swollen, stitched and/or open wound, don't parade around the Whole Foods salad bar while I'm looking for lunch.

I was doing my normal route around Whole Foods this afternoon, and had pretty much already loaded my cart with everything I needed for the next few days. The only thing I lacked was something for lunch, as I was quite peckish from not having broken fast yet and it being 2pm. So I moseyed on over to the salad and prepared food section of the store, hoping for something appetizing and satisfying all at once. What I found was the opposite.

I started at the soup area to see what they had. What I found was a young woman, a few years younger than I, opening and closing the varietal pots of soup while takings whiffs thereof in between. When she was finished, she stood erect and turned towards me, noticing that I was waiting on her. When she did this, the only thing I noticed was an incredibly nasty busted lip, swollen about 4x it's natural size with black stitches and a stench of abscess that I could smell from about 10 feet away. I was immediately completely freaked out and decided to grab something from the deli instead.

I didn't feel like buying an expensive sandwich, so I just bought some lunchmeat then returned to the salad & prepared foods section, assuming the woman was gone. But by now she'd rendezvoused with a friend near the roasted chicken, mac & cheese and grilled veggies portion of the food bar. And the smell was still there. I quickly skirted past her and made my way towards the produce section, hoping to clear my nostrils with some fresh scents from the organic goods.

After about a minute, I did another lap around the store and returned to the food bar. SHE'S STILL THERE! And at this point I was so completely traumatized by the accosting sight and smell of this woman's open wound, that I just grabbed a chicken caesar salad and got out of there.

So, seriously, for the love of humanity. If you have a visible wound that's still in any disgusting stage of healing, stay away from the grocery store.

Thanks.

by Jon