BY LYNN HANRAHAN
Los Alamos

This is another Smith’s Marketplace story.  A couple hours ago I was checking out at the store with my oldest, picky child who really only eats grocery store food.  His sisters are easier to feed — a cart of fruits and vegetables from the Co-Op and they, like I, are good to go.

I had a bottle of bourbon, too.  A nice highball at Christmastime reminds me of my Mom.  The lady working the register asked my son for an ID.  He is almost 24 so this is understandable, but when I mentioned I was buying she asked me if I was providing alcohol to someone underage.

I have been shopping at this store since the eighties when it was Safeway, then Furrs, then little Smiths, and now big Smiths.  I worked as a bartender long ago during grad school and appreciate the need for liquor laws but this was all a little too weird.  To accuse a longtime customer of crime is very rude.  I will be mailing my frequent shopper card back to their national headquarters with a nice letter.

I am truly thankful for the Co-Op, Natural Grocers, and the local liquor store.  I would rather pay a bit more to buy a bottle of bourbon somewhere friendly.