I'm a little concerned about the strapping young man who checked me out at Country Mart on Friday. He's the one who rang up my FREE TURKEY before Thanksgiving. He's tall, and a good football-playing size. Not fat, but a little more than stocky. He has red hair the color of Prince Harry and my nephew, son of my sister the ex-ex-mayor's wife, plus a little bit of a light beard.
Red is usually friendly and talkative. Not as much as the Christmas-decorating dude, but personable. He was the only checker working, even though the light was on at the register next to his. There were six of us in line. Finally the absent checker arrived. I let a couple whose old man had a cane go ahead of me to the newly-womanned register.
When I had my turn with Red, he just scanned my groceries and bagged them and handed them to me. No small talk. He didn't look good. His cheeks were a bit flushed. Like he was wearing rouge. AND he was dabbing at his forehead with a folded-up paper towel. Yes, he was sweating. Dripping, save for the paper towel. I hope he wasn't feverish. It WAS unseasonably warm. 65 degrees outside. I think Red might have been wearing long sleeves. So maybe he was just overheated. I was comfortable in the store (and out) with just my short-sleeved shirt.
I have been extra-cautious about keeping my hands away from my face since then. Even though I washed my hands numerous times since our interaction, and had them in dishwater, you never know. I might have touched the food that Red touched. I know I touched the bags, to carry them in, and stuff in a sack for Farmer H to use eventually at his Storage Unit Store, when he remembers to take them. They'll be sitting on a kitchen chair for a couple weeks, probably.
Anyhoo... I guess something has been going around. Farmer H came down with it last Friday night. A head cold. Just snottiness and congestion. No fever. Hardly a cough. Some wheezing for two days. I fed him Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup. Cautioned him to swill a lot of water. He stuck Vicks up his nose at night. Aside from last Friday night, when he had to take off his breather because he was so stuffed up, Farmer H didn't seem to be slowed by that head cold. He's over it now.
Neither The Pony nor I caught it, but Farmer H said two of his Storage Unit cronies had it, and the three of them hadn't even seen each other for two weeks. Yet they all caught it at the same time.
I hope my checker-outer was only over-heated. I know it's hard to miss work if you need the pay, and if you're worried about getting fired, but he looked like he shouldn't have been there. I'm not as worried about catching anything as I was with that WHOOPING baby. We were separated by the plexiglass mostly. But I didn't like that sweating...
3 comments:
I took your first sentence the wrong way. You said a strapping young man was checking you out. I took that to mean he was attracted to you and was looking at your figure.
I guess I drank too much nog tonight.
if I'd noticed the sweating before it was my turn, I would have avoided that checkout. Head colds don't usually come with copious sweating, it could have been a flu or even (oh horror!) THE VIRUS. You know, that one that's been happily cavorting around the globe recently.
Sioux,
I knew exactly what I was doing. I meant to put (heh, heh, not like that) after that part, but forgot.
No nog here. We have a Wild Turkey on the kitchen counter, and a bottle and a half of wine in FRIG II. The Pony is chomping at the bit for a day off, which won't come until Friday. 11 work days in a row this time. Oh, and there's also a bottle of rum (YO HO HO) beside my purse, missing only one drink that was poured into a red SOLO cup with a can of Sprite on The Pony's LAST day off, last Sunday.
***
River,
I already had all my stuff on the conveyor when I noticed the sweat. I'd been looking down to group the cold with cold, and boxes with boxes. I DID notice he wasn't being friendly to people.
Yeah, Farmer H had his cold, but no fever. His head sweats when he eats spicy foods. So maybe Red was coming back from a spicy lunch... I hope.
The newest version of THE VIRUS is allegedly milder, so if Red had it, his must be a retro version. He didn't seem sniffly or coughy. Just not himself, and hot. Maybe he got a booster shot.
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