There's a saying that it's not the crosses we have to bear that get us down, it's the grain of sand in our shoe. Some of the most utterly absurd things happen to me and it'll take hours for me to get past feeling so irritated.

Yesterday I drove halfway across town to a Home Depot. Mind you it was 108 degrees (heat index 118 degrees). I went to look for a certain brand of plastic bags that only they carry. I got that!

Then I went to the nursery area and picked up a couple of plain 6" long iron hooks used to attach hanging baskets to limbs or something. The price on the display said "78 cents". They looked like 78 cents.

I waited my turn to checkout. There must have been 20 checkout registers, two were open, long lines at both. I patiently waited my turn.

My 78 cent plant hangers rang-up $44! $44! They both had little adhesive labels, both rang up $44. The cashier said she'd call somebody and get the right price, she didn't have the authority to charge anything other than the sticker price. She must have called Home Depot's corporate headquarters - naturally whoever she was trying to talk to didn't even understand what the hangers were.

There were at least 7-10 customers waiting to checkout behind me - the cashier decided she'd send another cashier-type person to look at the display. Off she went. Later, returning, she saw somebody she knew come in the front door so she hesitated to talk to them for a minute.

When she finally returned, she said the "78 cent" sign was for another plant hanger that was hanging in the wrong place - that she could not find a price posted for what I was trying to buy.

I said O.K.! This is ridiculous - no plant hanger on earth costs $44. I apologized to the irate people behind me and left, without the dang plastic bags...which I needed but was too mad to pay for!

I'm still mad!!