Like a flounder lying on the bottom of the ocean with his lower eye migrating to the top side of his head... Mrs. HM may soon have her nose on the back of her noggin. That's from it getting out of joint so many times while waiting in convenience store lines!
Thursday, I went inside the Sis-Town Casey's to pre-pay for my gas, and get scratchers. A complaining woman was at the left register, the only one open, haranguing the clerk for not having a certain brand of cigarette advertised as a special on a handwritten sign leaning against the register. Well. There's only so much you can do, you know. The clerk couldn't twitch her nose and conjure those cigarettes out of thin air. If you're out, you're out. Complaining once you know the facts is useless.
Next in line was a man with a fountain soda, and little boy with a bottle of chocolate milk.
After them was a woman with a couple of candy bars.
Then me.
As we waited, an old man with a cane, holding a half-gallon jug of chocolate milk, walked up from the side. He looked at me. Then stood there, facing the shoulder of the woman in front of me. Sorry, buddy. No cutsies. He had a cane, by cracky! While I was balancing the bottom of my femur bones on top of my tibia and fibula bones. That's how it feels when I stand or walk. Like bone-on-bone. Unstable. So as much as I might have liked to do a good deed and let him go ahead, I was in no better shape than he. Besides, he was a bit presumptuous, standing there ahead of me. I tried to think he was just saving steps, and would fall in behind me as we moved up.
Another lady came in and got in line behind me. The man and boy got their turn. We moved forward. A worker woman came from the back, her little girl on her hip, probably going off shift, or just coming in. Because it's not normal that little kids work the counter at Casey's. She stepped over to advise the clerk to just put the sign back, and tell people they were temporarily out of that kind of cigarettes.
Old Cane Man stepped up to the right side register and set down his jug of chocolate milk. AS IF it was his turn, and AS IF that lady was working. She was not in a uniform. But she WAITED ON HIM, with that little girl on her hip. Well. Don't beat all! But wait!
As this was going on, a man had gotten in line behind the woman behind me. As I was paying, and Old Cane Man was getting his change and caning away, That Man left the line and stepped up to the right side register! All without the girl/woman saying she was open and would help somebody. And him thinking he was entitled to jump ahead.
MEN!!!
Sometimes, they need to be put in their place. Or in this case, KEPT in their place.
In line.
6 comments:
The woman with the child SHOULD have said "I'm sorry this register is not open" and walked away.
River,
I agree, but I suppose she's a people-person. She could have a worse habit than waiting on a caned man when she's not on the clock.
BLOGGER has been double-commenting again!
you know I would have had to say, "Excuse me, sir, but you were not next in line, but I suppose you are entitled!"
Kathy,
I wish you had been there to call him out! I shy away from confrontations, even with crippled old men!
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