People You Meet

I suppose one of the nicest things about working in a grocery store is the number of people you meet that are truly nice.

The store I work at is in an older neighbourhood, which is also home to a lot of university students. So you have the students that are learning to shop for themselves and then the older more worldly people that are grocery savvy. Then there are the ones that are on a little bit of a tight budget and are very careful about what they buy and the opposite end are those who either haven't a clue how to shop or for whom cost is not an issue.

It is also amazing the way some people treat the food that is going home to their families. I had one customer that, literally, threw his groceries on the belt. Even the eggs. I was surprised by how he was treating the food. I know it has no 'feelings' but, still, the packaging is not meant for it to be treated like that. No concern for bruised apples, squished bread, possibly broken eggs, meat packaging, nothing. I found myself not taking as much care with the bagging process as I normally do. He was rude as well. I didn't treat the groceries the way he did but he sure didn't go home with his groceries organized the way I normally do.

There is my retired police gentleman that always asks if I'm "available". My stock answer is "for you, always." We get into it quite a bit with words. There's the gentleman who is nearly blind and thinks I'm terrific because I help him so much. He is one of those that holds out the wallet for me to take the correct amount of money from. He says he loves the way he is treated at our store. I have a few older ladies who are like that as well. They just open the purse and trust you to take the money the best way. They sometimes don't like to fiddle with change for fear they are holding up the line. They appreciate me doing it and I can get in there and have the change out, usually managing to do it in a way that lowers the total weight of coins they are carrying.

There is Mrs. Violet, who thinks I have "niceness" in me. She will always try to come through my register if I'm there and she sometimes makes little treats that she brings in for me. She walks a great deal and is a little hard of hearing sometimes but is one of the sweetest people I know. She is very special.

There is my English Lady. She is very smart and is another one of my 'fans'. She asks me for hints on cooking and what items to buy etc. She never used to cook much for herself but is enjoying finding new ways to make things. She keeps me on my toes.

More on people to come. That'll have to do for now.