Val Should Have Tossed Some Smelling Salts into Her Cart

I made an unscheduled trip to Country Mart on Tuesday. It couldn't wait until Errand Day on Thursday, because I needed SLAW. Hick was grilling some sausage patties (or as I call them: deconstructed bratwursts) that evening, and slaw goes great with them. Besides, I could get my scratchers out of the two machines at the front of the store, rather than my daily trip to the Gas Station Chicken Store.

First I went down the soda aisle, and saw that Hick's Diet Mountain Dew was still on sale 2 for $9.00 on the six-pack bottles. I put two on the side of my cart and continued down and across the back aisle. The cookies are there, and Hick has bemoaned a lack of treats since he finished the Easter cheesecake, and took his bag of shortbread cookies and his snack pies to "work" at the SUS2.5. I got him some strawberry wafer cookies, and a pack of generic iced oatmeal cookies.

The next stop was the produce section, where I picked up a 3-lb bag of Vidalia-style onions, and then the slaw. It was the 44-oz container, for $8.99, which is expensive for slaw, but more economical than the 14-oz container for $3.99. Slaw does not go to waste at our house.

All that was left were the scratchers. I thumbed my nose at protocol, and wheeled my cart with groceries down an empty checkout lane to get my tickets before getting in line to pay for the food. I scanned in my winners at the right side machine, and was picking my tickets when a man walked up to the left machine. I had to wait a couple minutes for him to finish. Which I did politely, behind him by the empty checkouts, not breathing down his neck and sighing heavily.

He finished and went into the aisles, and I got my tickets and went towards the only open checkout. A man was paying, and a woman with a full beeper cart was waiting. As I was turning my cart to get into the line, here comes the Ticket Buyer. He was probably early 40s, in navy blue track pants with a double white stripe, and a white shirt, black hair in a short cut.

"Go ahead." He only had a couple things in his hands.

"No, you can."

"I'm okay." 

I was moving on back before turning my cart into the line when another man walked up. He was 50-ish, in jeans, kind of balding.

"Oh, you can go in front of me."

"Are you sure? I don't have to."

"It's fine. Both of you have less than I do."

Baldy got in line, and I turned in behind him.

"I only need one item."

"I would, too, if it wasn't for my husband, heh, heh!"

Another checker girl came up and opened the next line. She called for people she could help. I told Baldy to go ahead. He was wanting a can of Skoal. Then another lady with a full cart came up and hurriedly got into that line. Not that I cared. 

The beeper cart lady paid, and was having her groceries put into her beeper cart. They called a stockboy up front to help her load them outside. Ticket Buyer moved up. He only had a couple things, no cart. He paid in cash. The checker had trouble counting his change out of the tray, then handed it to him. 

I had my groceries already on the conveyor. I waited for Checker to scan my two sodas on the side of the cart. She did, and rang up my stuff, and put it in bags. Ticket Buyer was still standing at the end of the conveyor, counting his money. I wished he would do that somewhere else, so I could move up to the card-reader. THEN he asked Checker something, and counted out more money and handed it to her. Huh. He must have forgotten something. Maybe he also got some tobacco product while I wasn't paying attention.

"There you go! You're done." Checker brought my bags up over the conveyor, and put them in my cart.

"Oh. No. I still have to move up to pay!"

"No you don't!

That's when it dawned on me. TICKET BUYER HAD PAID FOR MY GROCERIES! He turned and smiled.

"Oh, that's so nice! You didn't have to do that. Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome." He turned to walk out.

"Good luck on your tickets!"

"Thanks."

I really hope he won something. I barely won money back. But then, I was ahead $28 and change, from the price of my groceries he paid for. I'd give you the exact amount, but I didn't get the receipt, heh, heh!

There IS hope for humanity! I plan to contribute by paying for somebody's groceries. I'd like it to be for somebody elderly, or maybe a harried mom, or an old guy buying ice cream and chips and beer. We'll see who checks out before or after me in the future. 

I'll have to be careful not to insult anybody. Some people have too much pride. 

Not this old Val!