once upon a time, i entered a convenience store under the pretense of purchasing three (3) Pabst Blue Ribbon tall boys (24 oz cans to the layman). ahead of me in line, once i got there, was an elderly gentleman hoping to purchase a 64 oz soda and three (3) lollipops. he pulled a small plastic card out from his pocket and offered it up as payment. the clerk said, loudly i might add, "you're using food stamps?!" the old man nodded with a gleeful façade, clearly hiding his shame beneath a toothless grin. after some confusion over which typepad should be used for to enter the pin (foodstamps are now more like fooddebitcards), the attendant muttered, "declined" and proceeded to collect up the lollipops like a casino dealer. the elderly man slowly wandered back to the drink station with his 64 oz of liquid refreshment and under the watchful gaze of everyone in the store, proceeded to pour the object of his desire into the sink.
i was almost brought to tears. i had considered offering to pay for his crap, but the over-active "worst-case-scenario" chip in my brain triggered a daydream of the man being sent into a rage fueled by the humiliation brought on by a young, able-bodied man offering to take care of this once proud beast's debts, so i passively resisted the events as they unfolded.
then, as i walked out, i saw the man fondling himself as he stumbled his way back home and i realized that if i had to deal with this guy regularly, or even ever again for that matter, i would exhibit the same level of impatience as the convenience store clerk had. i also realized again that life, as kilgore trout used to say, is a crock of shit.
the end
p.s. funny how the eye can miss a whole word over and over.
I was in that same Maverick last night and a lady paid for $7.71 worth of gas in change.
It was...annoying?
My heart goes out to the cashiers in that convenience.
Posted by: brome | 2006.05.26 at 11:32
My life is filled with this sort of experiences. Heart-wrenching.
Posted by: Conspiracy Brother | 2006.05.25 at 16:06