Pressed for Garlic

Raisa's dream had come true.  Not the dodgy one involving a Lamborghini and Bradley Cooper. But her second favorite dream. She had finally found someone to come to her home and cook once a week. Raisa had not predicted the effect it would have on her family. Her husband thought he had died and gone to biriani  heaven. There was finally some marital harmony in the home. No more fights about whether pasta was a 'real meal' or not.  Even her children were thrilled with Aunty Kulsum's creations. These included Chinese style fried rice and chow mein along with the subtly-spiced chaplee kebabs.

But the Punjabi chef was exacting. She expected Raisa to have all her ingredients lined up on the counter and if anything was lacking, there would be trips to the grocery store. Raisa was glad her children had been available to make these Dominicks runs but now they were back in college and she was left doing her own groceries. She hoped she had replenished the pantry sufficiently. One day Raisa was rushing off to work and told Kulsum that she had set aside all the requested foodstuffs: boneless chicken, fresh spinach, celentro, tomatoes. But Kulsum was not smiling.
"Laisan kiddr hey?" she enquired, delving into the refrigerator crisper drawer.
Raisa looked back at the caterer unsmilingly. Surely she could manage without the garlic. There was ginger. Ginger was practically the same, wasn't it?
"GARRlik, GARRlik," Kulsum translated.
"Yes, yes, I know, " Raisa said placing a ginger root on the chopping board, mouthing the words 'national emergency' to herself.  "We ran out of it. I thought you could manage with just ginger."
Kulsum stared at the bulbous root as though it were a ham sandwich.  Then she turned to Raisa with a look that the younger lady  interpreted as  'just because you pay me to cook for you doesn't mean I'm some kind of ruffian.
All of a sudden, Raisa could hear the Pakistani National anthem playing in her head.

She called her husband for some cultural context.
"Look honey, " he said. "I know it seems a bit extreme, but you could call it her thing. I know you're just a tad more flexible about these matters. She just really can't manage without certain ingredients Would you be terribly late if you went to the store now?"

Raisa hung up the phone. This woman had entered their lives, was saving her marriage AND was making her children happy too. How could she complain? She was like Raisa 2.0.

Raisa found the wretched bulbs in the produce section of  the local store and hurried to pay for them, picking the shortest queue. She placed the next customer bar behind a large bag of gluten free dog food and a selection of multi-colored chew toys. The man at the checkout peered over his metal glasses, picking up each scanned item and taking a good look at it before placing it into the paper bag.  His badge said "Hi I'm Bob, how may I help you?". An elderly couple stood in front of Raisa. The husband handed Bob some coupons. Then he took out his wallet and said, "Yeah we end up spending around $400 a month on our pooch. That's just for pampering him. Doesn't even include visits to the vet!"

Bob straightened his badge. "Well what do you know, " he responded.
There was one last item to be scanned. It was a carton of ice cream. She wondered if maybe the retired couple were expecting a visit from grandchildren . It was a game of hers, to invent stories about strangers she met.
But Bob was peering at the frozen treat. There was probably no barcode on the item. Raisa looked around to see if there were any empty aisles. This would take more time than she had anticipated.
"This ice cream is for dogs?" enquired Bob.
The retired couple nodded. "You didn't even know Dominicks sold that product, did you? enquired the wife, laughing.
"Why bless you, no I didn't, " replied Bob.

The couple took their doggie treasures and left.
Raisa figured Bob made minimum wage. She wondered how he felt when he saw others fritter away so much on quadropeds. But dogs clearly bring comfort, unconditional love and lifelong devotion. She as a South Asian had an odd fear/aversion to them but it was irrational.

 As Raisa pulled out a twenty to pay for her groceries she remarked, "Well what do you know. Canine ice cream?"
"Yes." replied Bob, straightening his uniform. "Aint that something?"
"Well I'm sure it brings great joy to many, " Raisa said.
"I don't doubt it," he said looking around to see if the manager was nearby.
"But it's also the reason people in other countries make fun of us!" said Raisa.

Bob looked as though he were in a library, wanted to laugh loudly but was worried about disturbing other patrons.
"You said a mouthful, ma'am. " he said carefully handing back the change.

"But we've all got something unusual about us. Look at me, " said Raisa. "I'm taking time off work to buy three cloves of garlic."
Bob stared back at Raisa, daring to smile now.
"You know what ELSE this country is known for? she asked him.  "For being non-judgmental."
Raisa zipped up her jacket and clutched her wares, leaving Bob staring after her.