Stash of Words: Bad Mood/Good Mood

To put me in a bad mood instantly, stick me in an asian food market. Being a filipino-american, I'm forced to make trips to these markets more often than I would like. My mom is always on the look out for new asian markets to venture to and check out. She finds out about the latest market either from her neighbor, a chinese "Mrs. Kravitz," or from one of my many many relatives who reside in Chicago. If she knew how to use the Internet, we would be at a different market every other day. Today, she wanted to take a trip to "Asia Supermarket" - what an original name. I asked her, already in an annoyed tone, "where is it located?" "On Milwaukee Avenue" she responded. My bad mood began. For those who don't live in the Chicago area, Milwaukee Avenue stretches for many miles and through many cities in the Chicagoland area. I then asked her "where on Milwaukee Avenue - in Chicago, Glenview, Niles, Wheeling...? What's the cross street?" She responded, it's next to a Binny's. I'm officially in a bad mood now and it's all down hill from there. When we finally arrive at "Asia Supermarket" which was not next to a Binny's, she is disappointed. They are out of stock of the nishiki rice she wanted. We decided to go to Super H Mart - a mega asian supermarket. On the way to Super H, I asked her in my grumpy tone, "why do you always want to check out every asian market out there? They are ALL the same - they carry all the same products. Products that you cannot even read because they are written in chinese, korean or japanese." She just laughed. My bad mood is giving me a headache. We walked into the massive Super H, which is not only a large grocery, but it also has a food court, bakery and many tchotchkes stands that line the perimeter of the store. My jaw begins to tighten. I don't know why asian markets put me in a bad mood. Did I have horrible childhood memory in one that I'm subconsciously repressing? I don't think so. Is it the smells and sights of raw seafood, pig's feet, and hanging duck? Those smells/sights are not the best, but they're tolerable. I think it's the sticky floors, the rusted shopping carts, the smelly plastic bags, and the endless rows of bottled condiments, packaged snacks and prepared foods that I cannot even read that get to me. Super H happens to be on the cleanlier side, but still the overwhelming rows upon rows annoy me. I tilt my head to the left and then to the right to try to relax and loosen the tightness in my neck. I cannot do any deep breathing exercises because we are standing next to an open iced case of huge gigantic raw octopus. My patience is waning and then I become an annoying child and ask every few seconds, until I get the answer I want, "Are you done yet? Are you done yet? Are you done yet?" We finally head home and it takes me the rest of the afternoon and a nap to snap out of my bad grouchy mood.

Here's a list of places that can instantly change my mood: