I stood in the supermarket and suddenly felt poor

Dear Delyara, I was putting ordinary things in the trolley and doing the constant little arithmetic I do now without even noticing — put that back, get the smaller one, maybe next week, no we don’t need that, don’t be silly, the children will eat the cheaper one, you can do without that for yourself. By the time I reached the till, I felt emotionally reduced. I hate that feeling. How quickly practicality becomes humiliation if there isn’t enough room around it. No one in the shop knew anything had happened. I did. I drove home quieter than I wanted to be and took it out on nothing because I didn’t want to take it out on anyone.