A memory from the grocery store days

I worked at a grocery store for two and a half years in high school. If you've ever worked retail, you know what that really means: I dealt with crazies, weirdos, and quacks who all had two things in common: They needed groceries, and they thought your purpose on earth was to serve
them. It might sound horrible, but there were highlights of the experience. I haven't thought of this story in years, but Kacie and I were sitting at a coffee shop and I saw something that reminded me of this one.

For about four months my main responsibility at the grocery store was a sacker. The poor underpaid kid who stands at the end of the cash register and puts your groceries in bags and smiles at you and asks how your day is going. One day the grocery store was very busy and we were short people to drop groceries in to plastic (or paper if you're environmentally friendly). I saw a customer sacking their own groceries out of the corner of my eye (this is taboo at the grocery store I worked at) and hurried over to do it for them.

When I got there, it hit me that the "customer" was actually a little girl who was there with her mother. She was lifting a bag of cans that probably weighed about what she did. I helped her get it into the cart and smiled and told her I could take over. She gave me a condescending look and said, "I can handle it." I grinned and told her I would help anyways. When all of the groceries were put away she turned towards me and said, "See? A seven year old can do your job." And walked away. I stood there miffed for a second and then went back to work.

Over the next year and a half or so I saw her and her mother regularly. I think the mom was a single parent, but they always seemed happy together. The kid always had a funny comment or humorous quip to make when she saw me. When Kacie and I were sitting at the coffee shop I thought I saw the same little kid grown up. There's something to be said for a slightly sarcastic, witty seven year old.