What's that you say?

I had been thinking about getting some Port wine for months and we passed a Centennial Liquor store in Dallas so I suggested to Chick we stop and get some Port Wine. Chick is a tee-totaler so he stayed in the car and laid the seat back to rest while I ran into the liquor store to make my purchase. I had been wanting this wine for some time, since October when I had a glass of it at my bosses 60th birthday party. It tasted so warm and good I asked what it was. Fran said, "It's Dow port wine, but you can't buy it in McKinney, you'll have to go to Lewisville or Dallas because it has a higher alcohol content than they are allowed to sell in smaller towns. Now it's July and I'm finally in Dallas. I remember it is Dow Port Wine so I as I walk into the store there is one customer - - me! Both people behind the counter want to help me.

The gentleman asks what he can do for me, and I say, "Dow Port Wine please"! He leads me to a shelf and stands there gazing at the top of the shelves. Below this lone bottle of Dow Port Wine is a label on the shelf that has 289.00. I think to myself, "Oh, they forgot to remove the cost of the shelving from the unit". Then I look below the shelf and see different tags that have $89.00; $49.00, $35.00, 69.00, and I think this must be expensive shelving, but why didn't they charge the same for all of the shelves? I then realize the prices are the bottles of wine and not the shelving. I look over at the gentleman on my right and say, "I drink Reunite Kool-aid wines", and he peers over his little spectacles at me like he didn't hear correctly. I said, "I only have a glass of wine at bedtime - - small", and he looks at me again. I say, "I need something less expensive, but in Port". I'm thinking the ladies I was at the party with surely didn't spend this kind of money. I say, "Sir, don't you have a port in a little less expensive brand"? He says to the woman behind the counter, "Where are our cheap wines"? ...And she says, "Look behind the door"! Geez!!!!

We look down the row of expensive wines to the end of the row and here we go walking and walking, and walking some more to the cheap dusty bottles of wines. I say, "I don't want vinegar". I don't like the looks of these cheap wines so I am still bargaining with them. I then decide I'll take a bottle of Tokay Wine, but it is $35.00 a bottle. I said, "Why is wine so expensive"? The gentleman replies, "It's the aging of the grape". He then proceeds to explain all about grapes and the reasons they are different prices. I interrupt and tell him, "Someday I'll come back when I have time for a grape education, but right now I just want a good, reasonable port wine. He recommends one, I take it and pay and leave, fully ignorant about wines. When I get in the car I hand Chick the bottle of wine and say, "I got it". He looks at the price tag, $12.99 and says, "It's pricey". I say, "Yeah, I know".