It must have been the trace of urgency in her voice that caused us all to hold our breath and look over when she said “manager to checkout three please.” The poor girl seemed a little self conscious as she held up a dripping ten pack of Pepsi. “I need another one” she said, to nobody in particular.
A guy with a ponytail and a heavy metal T-shirt stepped out of the queue “I’ll grab one?” He struck me as someone who worked there. His partner was having none of it, she muttered something to him and he meekly resumed his bag packing.
A skinny man approached. He was in his thirties, wearing a collared shirt. I took in his black earpiece attached to a walkie talkie via a curly cable. I nodded at him in approval. He had a brisk, efficient energy about him and he did not reciprocate. I sensed a feeling of relief all around me – earpiece man would sort this out in no time.
He spoke into his radio and tilted his head a few degrees listening to the reply. “Sorry that’s the last one” he said.
All eyes turned to the customer and the cashier. The cashier looked embarrassed. A gruff voice from somewhere behind me said “give her a discount.” The cashier raised an eyebrow and turned to the manager “30 percent?” He gave the slightest of nods.
The cashier turned to the customer, a rather genteel looking lady. The customer paused for a moment before saying “Aye, go on then.”
We all exhaled at once, there was a wave of relieved happy chatter and nervous giggling. The whole corner of the supermarket had been fully engrossed in this wholesome drama. It was certainly the highlight of my day.
I originally published this on the Dull Men’s Club, some of the comments were very generous and encouraged me to do a little more recreational writing.
Link to the original post here
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