Monday, April 18, 2005

I Think His Name Is Andrew

Today at Central Market I checked out a man in a wheelchair. I check out a lot of people in wheelchairs, but this guy had very limited mobility.

He rolled up behind me and said, "Excuse me, sir. Could I leave these behind here with you?" He had a lap full of bags of vegetables and a bag of fish and ice. I answered sure at the same time as Alice, one of the leads. (We call the managers "leads"). We both unloaded the food from his lap into a basket. Alice (who is an interesting, even myserious, person herself) said that he's a really cool guy and she explained to me that he would pay with a credit card and he didn't have to sign the receipt.

He picked up a few more things and came back. Alice came right back to make sure that everything was handled right. He must have been feeling good because he wanted to sign the receipt. He told Alice how to slide the pen in between the appropriate fingers. He scribbled on the line and said with a smile, "It's close enough for governmental paperwork."

As Alice was putting his credit card back I saw that he has a tube over his shoulder so that he can drink water. Alice loaded the bags onto the handles on his wheelchair. She double bagged them because she knows that he takes the bus and she didn't want the bags to break.

As we helped the man I remembered a Real Live Preacher story. I read it when I got home. Click here to read it. It's slightly graphic, so read only if you're brave. Also you may want to read this story about Real Live Preacher and his wheelchair friends.

I think I wrote more tonight about Alice than about the man in the wheelchair. I think she likes to feel special and important. But then, don't we all. She's kinda mean sometimes. I think she just really wants stuff to be done right. She has moments when she's really nice. I think she's a very nice kind person deep down, but she has a very tough exterior.

Anyways, I'm going to stop writing now. Take a look at those stories, and have a nice day.

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