At the age of 14 my father drove me to our local grocery store and had me apply for a job. At 14-years-old, the store hired me as a grocery bagger and (cue the Law And Order SVU theme song) these are my stories. If you are not from the south I have learned that it is important that I note that people in grocery stores not only bag the groceries for you, but also carry them out to your car and put them in your car.
1. The No Good Ex-Mother to His Child - At 14 years-old, a forty something year-old man would come in and at some point became one of my "regulars" and would vent his issues to me on the walk to his car and as I loaded the groceries into his car. This became a weekly thing and the things that a grown man would say to a child was downright shocking. Things he had said to me included a parade of derogatory names for both her and her new boyfriend, claiming that his son's ADHD diagnosis was a direct result of her being a "terrible mother", and my favorite line "that c*nt's the no good ex mother to my son" which was declared many times.
2. Jerry and His Wife - Jerry and his wife were the sweetest older couple that always made sure I gave them a weekly report of how I was doing in school and outside of school. Jerry didn't really talk all that much and his wife would tell us to start going to the car while she would buy her lotto tickets and Jerry being the quiet man he is would simply provide me a single line of encouragement each week. Before they would leave, Jerry's wife would always slip a few dollars into my pocket or my apron and tell me to just let her do "this one little thing to take care of you." They still remember me even after I stopped working there and when they saw me always made a point to let me know that they were rooting for my success.
3. My Great Whirlwind Romance - One Saturday night I was doing my usual dancing because I was bored (this became something I was known for) and twirled around to see the most jaw droppingly handsome man. I was providing my typical customer service of smiles and jokes but was also so flustered because I was a literal "heart eye emoji." Looking at him I felt like the exact thing you see in the movies. This was the man I wanted to spend my life with. He ended up having forgotten his wallet so I just saved his order and waited for him to come back. About 7 minutes later he came back in with his wallet and paid, continuing to joke and laugh with me he settled his bill and before leaving leaned over the register to hand me a piece of paper and smoothly said "I don't want to seem too forward, but call me." Once again I thought that there was no way this was real and WTF this only happens in movies. two days later I texted him to let him know how flattered I was but how sadly I was probably too young. We ended up developing such an intensely wonderful friendship and it is still with such great sadness that I feel knowing that he took his own life and I hadn't known until far after it happened.
There are so many other stories I could tell, the things that people are willingly telling grocery store employees is not only shocking, but honestly quite hilarious. Those people at your grocery store probably know way too much about way too many people, so please be nice to them, they really need it.
