Customers 2

There was an older woman who came in today. My guess is that she was not quite 60, with short black hair that she said her husband liked and black eyeliner and blue or green eyes. She only bought one thing but I forget what it was.

After we finished the transaction she headed for the exit, but she ran into someone that she knew on the way. Turns out they were old friends, I suppose from working with each other sometime around 1970 in a department store. I think they said that at first it was Strawbridge & Clothier, then it was taken over by Federation (or something like that, the woman that I rang up first said), and then by Macy's. They both seemed to agree that Macy's was a terrible place to work and they both seemed happy to be out of there when they could retire. They talked about their pensions a little bit - one of them would have gotten some more if they had stayed for another six months or something I think they said, but didn't want to stay around for another Christmas. I guess Christmas is a terrible time to work for department store employees. I never really thought of that.

At one point they started talking about their personal lives just a little bit. The woman I rang up is with a guy named Ray, to whom I believe she is married. It turned out that her husband died about eight years ago, I think she said. She met Ray sometime after that, and said that they met by talking about lung cancer and that his wife had died of lung cancer too. The woman lived in Fox Hill Farms, which she thought too small, and Ray was living in the same house that his wife had died in and didn't want to live with this woman in that house, so they decided to start anew. I think the second woman was married a second time as well, after her first husband died.

What really struck me and the reason I remember this is because of how cavalier they were when they were talking about their deceased spouses. I suppose that after eight years or so you might be able to talk about it passingly when catching up with an old friend, but it was still surprising how they mentioned "Oh, the man I loved and married died eight years ago" literally seconds before talking about how they hated taking care of their feet in basically identical tones.

The second woman came up to the register afterward and addressed that I probably heard their conversation and laughed because she figured I just latched on to the funny parts, but I was actually kind of disturbed. I don't know, though. I've never had a spouse die, or had a spouse.

//

A man came in today and asked for Marlboro Menthols. He had short hair and a bit of stubble and looked very young, so I asked him for ID. He said "Aww CRAP, man. Come on! I'm drinking over there!" I could kind of smell the alcohol on his breath so I was inclined to believe him but he looked under 40 and there wasn't really anything I can do. I actually thought he might be about 18 so I definitely needed to card him. I told him, "I'm sorry, but the law won't allow me to sell these to you without ID." He got a little bit angry and said he'd go to his car to get his ID.

He came back a few minutes later and showed me his ID. He was 23. The first words he said when he came in were, "Man, I am PISSED." I just said that I was sorry and there was nothing I could do. Then he lifted up his arms - he was wearing a beater - and said, "Look at these man. You know what these mean? I'm 18." And I said, "Not if you used a fake for those." I wasn't being rude, I was trying to politely justify what I was doing. I don't think he heard me in either case. Then he said, "There you go. There's my ID. Tells you I'm 23. I've been in Iraq for three and a half years." I just said I was sorry and I did what I had to do.

If I had known he was a soldier I would have given him military discount. Oh well.

There was another couple that came in the store before him that I carded. I thought the guy was about 20, but after I saw him more closely, I saw he was probably closer to 30. His girlfriend came up to join him and was going to buy her own cigarettes and excitedly said, "That means you have to card me too!" and happily put her ID on the counter. She very eagerly asked me how old I thought he was and why I carded him after he left the store. I guess it was her boyfriend and it was sort of flattering for both of them.

Peace out.

First Friday

It was a year ago today, on Sara's birthday, that my mom didn't let me go to First Friday with her, Chaz, and Kim and I believe Nupur. She said I would have lots more First Fridays that I could go to with them. It's been a year and we have one remaining First Friday; we haven't been to one yet. Chaz and Nupur are both in Providence for the next First.

This is a note to myself that when my hypothetical kids ask to do something reasonable that they can do later... let them do it now.

Peace out.