2 comments from people at the corner store.

So in my neighborhood I go to this very multicultural corner store owned by Arabs and employing Latinos and Africans, and stocking all those types of goods and more. The last two times I've been in the counterwomen have been especially chatty: 1) When I was in the produce aisle stocking my basket, the shorter (Colombian) woman was like, "Hello, Mr. Healthy!", since I always buy a ton of fruits and vegetables. We started chit-chatting, and I mentioned that I had been to the beach and bought a rice popsicle from a Mexican vendor (fyi - though I didn't tell her - I did the entire transaction in Spanish), and she said her favorite flavor is mango and milk, and to try that next time. 2) On Mon. when I was in the store picking up some dried black beans, another latina counter woman was asking me what I was cooking, and when I said black beans for beans and rice, she started talking about how she cooks them... She soaks her beans for exactly 6 hours, uses salt and pepper and many of the same vegetables as me, and puts in some herb that I don't know the name of... She took me in the aisle to show it to me, but they were out of it.