I set off the alarm at the grocery store over the weekend. I wasn’t going to mention it, but it’s always best to get ahead of a breaking news story. My story, my spin.

I’ve never set off an alarm before.

I take that back. I set off the smoke alarm in the kitchen about once month, but high heat with cast iron does that. Other than that, my record is clean (and my cast iron well-seasoned).

I’ve never been stopped by security before.

I take that back, too. I am often pulled aside by security when we fly. My theory is that airport security people figure a grandma on the small side isn’t going to be a physical threat and I can help make their quota.

My only interaction with security at the grocery has been when I make fleeting eye contact with the police officer standing in front of the lotto ticket machine on my way out, and we exchanged friendly nods.

It was a typical Saturday. I’d made an early morning grocery run and then a mid-afternoon run for the things I forgot on my early morning run.

I was back for carrots, celery, onions and lettuce in a big plastic box. It was a typical rabbit run and maybe a couple of other things. OK, fine, I grabbed a Hershey bar with almonds. Let’s just get it all out there.

I breezed through self-checkout, didn’t botch anything, didn’t need help scanning anything. Credit card in, credit card out. Totally routine. I grabbed the receipt, tucked it in a bag, exited the store and heard the alarm go off in the entryway.

Naturally, I kept walking because I figured the alarm didn’t concern me.

That’s when a tall shadow overtook me and a deep voice said, “Ma’am, you just set off the alarm and I need to check your receipt.”

He was young guy, very tall, very polite, very professional. His momma would be proud.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said.

If he’s sure it’s nothing, why did he stop me? Do I call the husband now or wait ‘til he sees it on the news?

As the young man compared the receipt to the items in my bags, I offered to share the box of baby spring mix with lettuce greens. He said it was tempting. Good fellow: He eats veggies.

Then he said everything was fine. He didn’t know why the alarm had gone off.

I figured it was fate’s way of checking to see if my blood pressure meds worked.

They did and they do.

As I said goodbye to the security officer, I realized a small group had stopped to watch. It was three women about my age. They were all smiling and nodding in approval that I had passed inspection.

Even more remarkable was what the spectators weren’t doing. A different generation would have been recording everything on cell phones.

My run-in with security went well, although the Hershey bar was gone before I got home.

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