She waved a big hi, and smiled a big smile.
If only I were welcomed like this by everybody!
"But, I have more than ten items" I said.
Yes, it is back to my beat, and I was back at my regular grocery store to restock after the India trip.
"That's ok" she said while waving me over to her counter. This was way too good an offer to refuse.
I thought her first question might be about my absence. I was all set to quickly brief her about my parents and brother and sister. And the brother-in-law aspect.
But, she was way excited. "I have been thinking about you and wanting to tell you something."
I wondered what it would about.
Perhaps finally she remembered my request that she she ought to remember and then tell me a couple of her stand-up comedian husband's jokes?
"The other day, my dog and I spotted a elk carcass, and the next day that huge body had been dragged over a few feet and all was left was a leg bone. It must have been a bear or a mountain lion to be that strong and hungry."
Relationships are built over shared experiences. Our relationship at the grocery store counter was significant enough for her to think that the elk story had to be shared with me. The fact that she wanted to share that with me was immensely heartwarming.
As that story wound down, I reminded her about my request. "You owe me a couple of jokes."
Maybe she is not that much into jokes. I imagine her husband tossing punchlines one after another while she merely smiles at them. Not rolling around in laughter. Perhaps through all that she thinks about the hike in the forest with her dog wondering what she might find along the path the next time.
"I will try to remember and tell you."
As I walked towards the car with a full bag, I realized that I have by now forgotten her real name all because I always refer to her as the bodybuilder. I wonder what her real name is. Will find out the next time, when she will have a new story to share with me.
Grocery shopping is not merely shopping for groceries. It, too, gives meaning to life.
2 comments:
Find out Find out - ask her and tell me. Tell her I asked, for somebody who makes a supermarket checkout an interesting experience is a very special person. It appears to be a boring job, but when somebody as interesting as her is there, it lends a whole new meaning to human interaction.
We miss her kind here and tell her if she ever wants a change of scenery .......
If anybody wonders whether I am inventing such characters, or whether they exist for real, I suppose I can send them your way, given that you actually met this person ;)
I think such interactions are largely because it is Eugene ... Plus, of course, it also depends on what we bring to whatever job it is that we do ...
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