Small Town America

Happy Thursday everyone!

Yesterday I made a little trip to one of our local Food Lion stores in the small town I work in. There were lots of things going on there on what would normally have been a quiet morning.

I was looking through the meat counter and noticed there were lots of meat with 2 days left til they expired that had been marked down. I often purchase these if I can cook them the same day or will freeze them the same day.

I felt a presence near me and when I looked up a teenage boy was standing there looking into my pocketbook and he nicely asked, "Can I borrow $10.00". Well, I didn't have ten bucks on me, as I seldom have much cash on me since the advent of the debit card. So I said no, I don't have $10.00 and he went on. I then watched to see where he went, as it kind of startled me and I wanted to keep an eye on him. He just went on to the next lady with the same question. She seemed as startled as I was.

I proceeded on to the bread isle where I overheard two store clerks who were very upset that someone had stolen a bunch of bacon earlier that morning. One stated that she has seen a couple go to the bathroom that morning, but didn't really pay attention to them. The other one said, "I hope they choke on it!".

Finally I proceeded to the checkout where three ladies in front of me in line were excitedly telling the checkout clerk about the boy in the store begging for money. Lo and behold he walked right by me and questioned another startled shopper about $10.00. The checkout clerk confronted him and told him he couldn't be in the store doing that and he very innocently said, "Oh no mam, I wouldn't ever do that".

By this time it was obvious to me that he was mentally handicapped and had slipped away from home or school or something. He was obviously well cared for, well dressed and well fed. He was just being a little mischievious that morning! LOL

Then as I proceeded in the checkout line, I overheard the same ladies discussing the fact that Ms. Mamie, a long time Food Lion clerk, had lost her son the night before to a sudden illness. Ms. Mamie had lost a daughter just a couple of years ago. The clerk was getting customers to sign a sympathy card and we could donate money if we wanted to. I thought that was so sweet. I'm sure many customers knew Ms. Mamie well and were sorry for her loss. I don't even know Ms. Mamie, but feel so sad for her.

So there's my 15 minutes of Small Town America for today!