Like so many of us lately, I was tired and in a hurry as I zoomed down the aisles of a Publix near me, pushing the cart in front of me.
However, at checkout, I did take the time to compliment the cashier on her very cool, oversized lime green glasses.
I wheeled my bagged purchases out to my car, loaded up the back of my SUV and headed home.
When I unloaded my groceries and checked my receipt (something I hardly ever do), I realized that both items that had been at the bottom of my cart had not been seen by the cashier, noticed by the young man bagging my groceries or remembered by me.
There was a jumbo bag of Halloween candy for $11.99 and a six pack of Perrier.
“I can’t go back,” I wailed to myself. “I’m too exhausted and I have company coming in about 30 minutes,” I rationalized.
It nagged at me – this feeling of taking some things that simply were not mine. And maybe, I fantasized, if I went back, the good people of Publix would resist taking my check and instead donate it to a hurricane relief fund. And I would be a hometown hero!
Three days later, shortly before dinner, I headed back to Publix with a personal check in my purse.
I walked up to Customer Service and waited almost ten minutes while a line of eager customers purchased lottery tickets.
When my turn came, I explained the situation very clearly to the customer service rep who kinda seemed lost as how to handle this particular situation. While she was figuring stuff out, one impatient customer behind me left and another one – an elderly lady – even more elderly than me – lamented she was going to miss her bus if she couldn’t purchase some cigarettes right now.
The customer service rep – a young lady with beautifully manicured nails, complete with bright orange tips, I may add – kept looking up all kinds of things on her I phone in an effort to figure out how to proceed.
Finally, she accepted my check for $20.00 and then asked me for ID – the irony of that was not lost on me.
After our transaction, I walked back into the interior of the store, bought a few items and proceeded to checkout. For some reason, probably because my husband and I were soon leaving to go out of town, I only grabbed one avocado, not my usual three, and didn’t bother to bag the lone piece of fruit.
After checkout, I once again headed to my car, placing the bagged groceries into the back. And there, forgotten by me, and overlooked by the cashier and the bagger, was my one lone avocado rolling around at the bottom of the cart. I wish I could tell you I went right back into Publix to pay, but I didn’t.
Because…..just at that very moment, I was sidetracked by the same elderly woman who had recently tried to buy cigarettes at the customer service counter.
“Do you have a light?” she asked me. “I quit smoking, but I decided to buy a pack of cigs anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I don’t”.
“You know, I missed my bus because the lady at customer service was so slow. Could you possibly give me a lift?”
“I’m sorry,” I said once again. “But I can’t.”
I quicky drove off – with an unpaid avocado in my possession and an angry elderly lady glaring at me.
As my dad used to say, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,
