The past couple weeks I’ve found myself getting annoyed with cashiers and baggers at the grocery store who are overly chatty with me. I am perfectly pleasant to them and engage in polite conversation if they initiate, but I’m not happy about it.

This is notable because for the past year I’ve noticed that I am more and more chatty with strangers in public places. Sometimes I have to stop myself from oversharing about why I picked out this particular kind of cracker for my kids, or whether or not this Atlantic salmon is worth the money. And even when it’s not me initiating the conversation I am usually still pretty enthusiastic about it. Do I want to hear more about the pharmacist tech’s cat’s new favorite scratching post? Of course I do!

I realized yesterday why I’m suddenly so grumpy about people talking to me at the grocery store.

My kids are home for the summer.

Oh. Duh.