Tangerines

I got the tomatoes.
Squeezed them a little,
Not knowing what I might
Be testing for.

Vons, redone,
Felt a lot nicer
The tangerines looked particularly tempting
But I had come for tomatoes, just tomatoes.

Halting at the door,
Weighing the idea of tangerines,
Wondering if my pay-grade
Allowed for such free lance purchases?

Undecided, my miserly nature took hold.
“I might not eat them. They could be tasteless”
And other neurotic notions
Skidded between my ears.

OK, no tangerines!
What was $2.25?
A test of my frugality?
There must be a larger principle.

Now, a block from the supermarket,
It seemed absurd to go back.
Consider the time wasted.
But, I wanted a tangerine.

Feeling like a very poor
Version of the “Lady and the Lion”,
I chose to retrace my steps.
And with kudos to Robert Frost,
“It Made All the Difference”.