I was raised in a small town.

Went up to my parents' house today, for tappu's baby shower. This was the first time I'd seen her since... Christmas? ish? and, wow! there's a WHOLE BABY in there.

Anyway, I went up early, because occasionally I manage to at least fake being a dutiful daughter. My mom immediately sent me out shopping: among other things, she needed a couple of baby albums to give to the grandmas-to-be, i.e. herself and tappu's mom. After a few rounds of cell-phone tag, including calling my mom's ex-place-of-work (I didn't actually hang up on a priest. I said "sorry, wrong number" first.) I found what was needed at the local Hallmark store and went up to the counter. I was feeling unusually chatty (for me) so as I set down the two identical grandma photo albums, I remarked, "The baby shower is today, so my mom's got me..." and the lady nodded sympathetically and said, "Discover?" and I figured that was that. As my receipt printed out she asked me if I had a Hallmark card, the kind where you accumulate purchases toward a discount. I said no, and she nodded. "I think your mom does," she said, "so I'll just mark the receipt, and she can bring it back later."