SAN ANTONIO – In a time-honored tradition for procrastinators, shoppers flocked to grocery stores Wednesday night for last-minute Thanksgiving shopping runs.
"I thought everybody would be doing their shopping early, but, well, that didn't happen, so we're here," said Maria Orozco, as she waited in line at a Southeast Side H-E-B.
Orozco had plenty of company in the store. Hundreds of people browsed the aisles and waited in line in what an H-E-B spokeswoman called “controlled chaos” as they shopped for the week's main event — Thanksgiving dinner.
"I have three kids and they eat like little piglets," said Irene Cortez after checking out with more than $225 worth of groceries.
In the customers' carts were ingredients for every dish imaginable: shrimp, bananas, ham, cabbage, sausage, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and pie fillings.
Some even tossed frozen turkeys into their carts, hoping to reduce the thawing process to a fraction of the time it would take to just leave it in the fridge.
"Water in the sink," said Theresa Balderas after picking out her bird. "Just leave it in there all night until about 6 o'clock in the morning, pull it out."
But before the customers could wait for their turkeys to thaw, they needed to wait patiently in lines that stretched back into the aisles.
"Everybody's been nice," Orozco said. "Everyone in the aisles, we're waiting. And everybody's been very nice."
Even through the crowds and lines, the finish line of a fully-prepared Thanksgiving dinner was within grasp.
A spokeswoman for H-E-B said the grocery chain would be open for part of Thanksgiving Day, though the lines are expected to be just as bad. So those who have finished shopping already have something for which to be thankful.