In the check out line at the super market the woman in front of me purchased a loaf of bread and two apples. "Do you need help out?" the checker asked as he handed the woman her change. For perhaps half a second the checker, the woman, and I stared at the purchases. Then the woman answered the question asked so mechanically.
"Yes. I do need help out. Thanks for asking. I need help out with raising my two kids by myself. I need help out paying my rent and my utility bills. I need help out finding a third job so I can buy an apple for each of my children. I need help out paying off my mother's funeral. I need help out finding health insurance I can afford. I need all sorts of help out. I don't need help out with what I just bought, though. But I do appreciate the offer."
She picked up her bag and as she walked away the stunned checker said, "Happy Mothers' Day." The woman turned and smiled at him. "Thank you. You be sure and wish your mother the same." And she was gone.
My items purchased and bagged, the checker asked me, "Would you like assistance carrying your purchases to your car?" In the blink of an eye, this young man learned to offer only that which is possible to provide.
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4 comments:
We all need help out but aren't asked very often to say what we need.
Yeah. But ya otta at least have something in the ball park of what th e person might need before you start offering stuff.
This is somewhat tangential, but your story prompts me to share this very funny book I got today- A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers by Hillary Carlip, who collects discarded grocery lists, imagines the lives of the shoppers, and then impersonates them. I found myself laughing out loud at the bookstore. By the way, she'll be at Vroman's in Pasadena on May 22 at 7 pm.
Tangential is actually what makes blogs living things. Thanks for the comment, Kathy.
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