A few nights ago, I headed off to Walmart after the boys were all FINALLY ASLEEP. I must admit, shopping by myself late at night tends to make me dally. I think I was there almost three hours. When I finally made it to the check-out at 1 a.m., the girl who was handling my line (one of only two open at that hour) looked like she was comatose. She took forever ringing up the individuals in front of me.
When she got to my purchases, she mechanically began to scan item after item. Perhaps she wasn't paying attention. Perhaps I merely needed an odd chuckle before bed. I don't know. But, she accidentally dropped one of my broccoli crowns out of the plastic bag onto the metal bagging area.
What happened next made me think "What's up with that?"
The girl looked horrified. At first, I assessed her expression as shock over spilling out a customer's valued purchase. However, then I watched her daintily reach out a finger and thumb, as if picking up the dead carcass of a rat off her station and whisk the broccoli quickly back into the bag.
Next, the girl reached behind the cash register and pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer and doused her hands. Only after vigorous rubbing, did she resume scanning my further purchases.
The woman behind me in line was standing with a talkative friend. The friend's back was turned to me, so she didn't witness this little episode, but the woman did. When we made eye contact, she said, in the clearest non-verbal communication, "What's up with that chick?"
I have to admit, my mind was whirring. Wouldn't it have made more sense to douse her hands before touching my produce? Is the produce offered at Walmart so foul that it requires the extensive cleansing of the hands after touching it? We are certainly not eating that broccoli raw. I will spray on the Fit! Fruit and Veggie Spray and then I am boiling that roughage!
I tried hard not to chuckle as the woman behind me said to her friend, "Man, you are missin' it all!" The friend didn't understand, but the woman assured her she would explain when they got to the car.
Now, I'm wishing she (or the check-out clerk) would explain it to me! Anyone want to venture a guess about that weird scenario?
4 comments:
Maybe she suffers from Lachanophobia Broccolius?
Yes, there's actually a fear of vegetables out there. Crazy, isn't it?
That seems a little strange. I'm the kind of person that I probably would have just cornered her and asked her why she didn't feel the need to clean her hands before she touched my food. Oh well, some things are better left unanswered.
Wendy, your description of your encounter was awesome...I could picture the setting, late at night, the zombie cashier on auto pilot until...dum da da dum...the broccoli incident. You should send that in to Reader's Digest. If they publish it, you get something like $400. ~Karin
That's just wrong. I personally love broccoli but understand some folks fear EATING it. But a fear of handling broccoli. Way wack. But we need these experiences every now and again to stir us to write! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tROvvv-5t74
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