Pickle juice

Today Joseph and I stopped at Nelson Brothers for a donut after therapy. I noticed that they had a gaint jar of pickles sitting on the counter. Actually, it was about 3 pickels and about 2 gallons of juice. Casually (at least as casually as one can ask such a bizzare question) I asked the girl behind the counter what they did with the juice when they were done with the pickels. "Oh" she replied "We dump it out."

I stood there for a second wondering a) what must this person be thinking b) what had compeled me to ask something like that and c) how could I proceed with this conversation. After a moment of akward silence the girl raised an eyebrow and said "Why do you ask?"

Because I didn't want to her to think that I wanted the juice so that I could do something strange like bathe in it right there at that moment I cheerily replied "Because I want to drink it!"

As you go through life you will find that few situations are as uncomfortable as announcing to a perfect stranger that you would like to guzzle left-over pickle juice. Even Joseph was emberassed for me. I hastily explained that I was pregnant and it was just an odd craving. Little did she know that I have always liked pickle juice but I do blame the pregnancy for my asking this woman if I could drink what is essentialy trash from a deli.

After the woman laughed for a minute she very nicely scooped some into a coffee cup for me so that I could take it home. It's in the fridge chilling right now because as every true pickle juice lover knows it is much better when served cold.