Trader Joe's Customers Go "Head Over Heels"

Every once in a while, I have one of those moments where suddenly I feel like an extra in a movie. That happened again on Sunday night at the Glendale outpost of Trader Joe's.

With Blogger Preschooler in the shopping cart, I was strolling through the veggie aisle when Tears for Fears' 1985 hit "Head Over Heels" came on the loudspeaker.

Catchy tune -- and slightly less overplayed than "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout." But a funny thing happened -- as the song started, the guy next to me, sticking his paws on TJ's apple varieties, began singing along.

That's cool, I thought -- I nearly did myself. So I strolled on, past the wines. A guy standing there, mulling over the Two Buck Chuck, began whistling.

Wow, people really like this song, I thought.

I pushed the cart past the bread. The chorus was about to erupt on "Head Over Heels." And wouldn't you know it -- the guy standing with his girlfriend, grabbing a loaf, busts out into the chorus.

And then I caught another guy, in line for a free sample, chiming in as well.

Surreal. Yet kinda cool. After I mentioned this in a Tweet, blogger Jessica Ritz replied that the same thing happened to her at a TJ's -- but with the Beach Boys' "I Get Around."

"Felt like a scene in a PT Anderson movie," she said.

Perhaps there's something about the informal, bonding experience of walking the aisles of Trader Joe's that allows folks' guards to come down -- and their inner Karaoke-ing self to come out.