In the Thanksgiving run up, Monterey Market was closed temporarily due to an altercation in the mushroom aisle. Apparently, the inventory of chanterelle mushrooms was running out when two customers requiring them clashed. According to witnesses, a shopper who goes by the name Bo Jo Lays attempted to grab the remaining fungi as another shopper was bagging their portion. Lays yelled, “Look I have already paid $200 for my heritage turkey and Alice insists on a chanterelle stuffing.” The comment was apparently in reference to a recipe in the Chez Panisse cook book. The first shopper responded with bewilderment, “Sounds like a North Berkeley problem.” Fortunately, there was a restorative justice counsellor purchasing organic micro-greens the next aisle over. The counsellor noted, “We were able to convince one of the customers that the morels would be a better pairing with their biodynamic pinot noir, and problem solved.” As a result of this incident, the market is considering full time conflict resolution personnel.
