Two days ago I decided to take advantage of the last few days of warm weather this season and barbecue, so I did what any reasonable man would do – got in the car, drove to the grocery store to pick up some meat, and $220 later returned home. No I didn’t buy $220 worth of meat, I’m not that Manly or carnivorous, but that’s what happens when you go to the grocery store hungry. I was so hungry in fact that I picked up fast food on the way home because after an hour and a half at the store I had no interest in waiting for the ribs I bought to cook.

Last night I was all set to barbecue: it was a beautiful evening and I had all the ingredients. I opened up the first slab, seasoned it accordingly, and moved right on to slab #2. But the second slab just didn’t smell right. My first thought was: be a man, any bacteria will burn up when it hits the grill; but no I wussed out and went back to the store because the slab was obviously spoiled.

I hate returning food because years ago while in high school, I bagged groceries for “a living” and used to watch everyone from whiny old ladies to poor families who couldn’t afford to eat return food (they were able to eat half of an item and return it) and something about that scarred me for life.

I walked in to the store, stopped at the service counter and told the woman working there that I had purchased the ribs the day before and they smelled funny. To which she responded: “Well did they taste okay?” Yea they did, I just thought I’d make a special trip here to let you know that. I also took the liberty of re-forming the slab to hide the missing portion that I ate, why don’t you stick your face in there and let me know how they taste.

Thank god she isn’t out building bridges or something…

If in doubt, throw it out (or return it I guess),

Jason