Christmas shopping has been intense at the big box store in the affluent suburban community where I live and work. You get to know a little bit about a lot of people, when working as a cashier. I'll share a couple of stories here.
Yesterday was not the day for well organized people to come shopping. Frantic is the word I'm looking for. One exasperated woman was stressing more and more as each item was scanned. When I told her the total, she let fly with an expletive, because she was $34 short. The man next in line picked up the shortfall. Then he started to worry. He asked if his credit card number was on the receipt. She said no, just the last four digits. I assured him that was the case, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
One of the things I really like about the store is that it attracts customers from all income groups, and they come from a considerable distance to shop there. Poor people drive long distances to get away from the crime-ridden neighborhoods where their closest big box stores are located. Rural people drive hours to shop at the store where I work.
One couple always makes me chuckle. He is a ranch hand named Mike with a deep drawl, as his native state is Mississippi. As soon as he sees me in the store, no matter how far away he is from my cash register, he just can't contain his enthusiasm, and yells out a long drawn out "Baahbb!"
His new bride is from Minnesota. They really love each other. She is a big improvement from his last mate, who kept getting arrested and thrown in jail for driving without a license. His new bride had a rough December. She was fired from her job at the Salvation Army store, where she worked hanging clothes on the racks. A customer was rude to her, and as he was leaving the store, she gave him the finger, and a fellow employee tattled on her.
She was in good spirits yesterday, though, because she was able to save enough money ($300) before getting fired to buy a "new" truck for her husband as a combination birthday and Christmas present. Their Toyota was falling apart. She bought him a 1995 Ford pickup with "only" 260,000 miles on it. It has a stereo that not only works, but even tells you the name of the singer or musician who is playing!
The other reason she was in such good spirits yesterday was she found a doctor who accepts Medicaid. He is a "very nice man, and young, too!" Now she can get all her prescriptions filled that she hasn't been able to fill since moving to Colorado three months ago after marrying Mike. From her mood yesterday, I'm guessing she already got her medications.
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