wednesday was a busy day at work. being the day before turkey day and all. i was running a register for the whole night and one incident struck me.
this old man came up to buy milk. the line was 4 or 5 people deep. he put the gallon on the counter. he took out his wallet and change purse. slowly but methodically he counted out the exact change. two dollar bills, two quarters, two dimes, a nickel and four pennies. this took him quite a while to do. i took the money and asked if he wanted the gallon in a bag. he said yes because it was easier to carry. i placed the milk in a bag, handed him it and his reciept and wished him a happy thanksgiving. he told me to enjoy mine, too. he slowly walked away. the whole transaction took almost five minutes long but i didn't mind. there was nothing wrong with the man. not disabled or feeble, just an old man.
the woman behind him was buying a couple things of candy. she came to the front of the line in a huff. "some people shouldn't be shopping if they are going to take up people's time." i didn't say anything. not my place to put customers in their place. "some of us don't have time to wait around." i nodded and handed her her groceries and her change.
the next man in line had a full cart of groceries. i said hello and asked how his day was. fine, happy to be done with shopping. i told him i hear that. he then looked at me and said "my father was like that the last couple years of his life. nothing wrong, just an old man that couldn't move fast. it hurt me to see him like that. now, i don't care how long seniors move. i understand." i nodded. "i'd hate to be that woman's father when he gets old." i nodded and said, "sooner or later, we all get old. you just gotta deal with it."
i bagged his groceries, took his cash, gave him his change, and wished him a happy thanksgiving. he smiled at me and said, "sooner or later, man. you got it. nothing to do but move on. sooner or later, man." i nodded. "have a good one while you can."
sooner or later, man. sooner or later.
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