Pillsbury Calamity

I do a majority of the shopping for the state officer house. It’s a good chance for me to be alone with my thoughts. I was enjoying the peace of shopping alone at the classiest of all establishments, Walmart. I found myself in the refrigerated section, reaching for a can of crescent rolls. Apparently, when I pulled one of the shelf, I knocked a few cans loose. Which really means, I created a crescent roll avalanche.

Fun Fact: Crescent roll cans are heavier than they look.

I learned the above fact while several dozen of them came flying off the shelf in my general direction. I managed to stop the disaster quickly, and nobody noticed. My next course of action was to pick up the mess I had created.

I guess crescent roll displays are just precarious no matter what you do, because restacking them created a second avalanche. This time, there were witnesses.

It was, quite possibly, the most embarrassing experience of my life. Several mothers out shopping, many with small children in tow, stood watching as I struggled to stop the cascading cans. I eventually got control of the situation, for a second time, and cleaned them all up without incident.

Perseverance is a word usually used to describe an athlete or someone going through a personal struggle. Well, on an average day in December my personal struggle was a Pillsbury calamity. I had to persevere through the embarrassment, as well as the actual physical pain of being hit by dozens of crescent roll cans, to make it out of that Walmart without losing my mind.

We all have those times when perseverance is a necessity. Embrace the awkwardness, embarrassment, whatever the thing is that makes you want to give up on something and persevere. Once you do that, I promise you’ll feel unstoppable.

Remember to persevere.

I did that day in Walmart, and it’s a good thing I did too. Not 5 minutes after I had avoided death by pastry dough, I found myself reaching for a box of pudding cups a few aisles over. It just so happened that I grabbed one that had already been opened.

I dumped butterscotch pudding all over the floor.

In front of one of those same mothers that had witnessed the crescent roll avalanche.

I slowly placed the empty box back on the shelf, grabbed a new one, and walked away. I persevered.

All the Best,

Sean Harrington

2015-2016 Indiana FFA State Treasurer