My Mistake

I learned something yesterday. I had assumed, not unreasonably I think, that Southern Comfort was a bourbon. It seemed to obviously be a whiskey of some persuasion, since that is where they stock it in the grocery store. Assumptions are not wise though, and I shouldn't have made this one. I bought a bottle of the stuff thinking it was bourbon. By the time I got home, I was starting to wonder why that word didn't appear on the bottle. I would just check online to be sure, I thought. Sure enough, it's just a liqueur made of "neutral spirits".

Of course I resolved to return the misleading bottle of booze, and I did so perhaps a couple hours later. On my way, a man remarked on my "So Co". I surmised after a moment of thought that he must mean the Southern Comfort, of whose nicknames I am as ignorant as I am of its actual composition. He seemed to be pleased that I had it, and I informed him that I was returning it. Given that cover, he admitted he thought very little of it as well.

I found at the grocery store that only managers can accept returns of liquor, which I admit puzzles me. If any cashier can sell it, why can only a select group of employees accept its return? It's always harder to receive money than it is to give it. Soon enough though, I had my refund (in cash) and felt worlds better about having made such an egregious mistake. My spirits (so to speak) had really sagged when I found what spurious booze I'd bought.

I completed the turnaround by buying a bottle of rye whiskey elsewhere that evening. I was on my way to improv class at the time, which meets at a church at the same time as an AA meeting. I realized the awkwardness of bringing a bottle of alcohol there only too late, and of course I had no place to store it. I tried for a bit to find someone in whose car I could leave it, but I failed at that. In the end it was one of those things where I worry terribly for nothing. No one took any interest, and in fact I think some assumed it was fresh bread in my paper bag, as it so often is. Anyway, so ended this mundane tale of liquor.