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What's funny about the place that I work is how much I feel I've become part of the community there. You can't live without food and the supermarket is one of the last social refuges in our increasingly depersonalized and disconnected world of selfish convenience.
Slowly I am coming to know my regulars and characters who are like fixtures of the store. There is Wheelchair Nazi, a disabled man with a German accent and a swastika in his wallet. Or Ms. Simple who clearly lives in a group home and spends her few pennies on snacks and things for her and her housemates. There is also Out Tranny whom I haven't connected with really but I think suspects something. How do you say "Hey, I'm a freak too! Cash-back on your debit card?". Organic Hippie Daddy hasn't been around in a while but he is always so kind, friendly and leisurely paced. Big Gal hasn't been around with her sardonic sense of humour and been-there done-that attitude as well. Always good for a much needed laugh. My Check-Out boyfriend came in today and overheard it was my birthday today and called me "just a pup". It is now clinched: he is totally a gay. Not that it wasn't before. But only gays call beards "bearish" and people 23-years-old "pups". I think he just likes having another gay at the grocery store though, so nothing serious. This is a medium sized city after all. It's totally easy to be out but the sheer improbability of finding another gay in day to day life is a tad daunting as to no longer become a point of contemplation in common interaction.
The corporate overlords at Head Office looking for new and exciting ways to exploit the workforce can go. But I really love the people where I work. Sure there are unhappy people and sometimes they can be really hurtful. But my honest perspective is that they've probably some reason to act that way. It'd be best if they didn't but if I had a terminally ill loved one or unsure of how I'd keep my home I think it's likely I might be a bit bitchy to the grocery store clerk as well. It's when you are kind in return and catch them off guard... then you affect the world. To make the world just a tiny bit smaller, warmer and friendly... that's what motivates me to take the shit hours, pay and occasional abuse. Because everyone knows the world is a cold enough place.
Slowly I am coming to know my regulars and characters who are like fixtures of the store. There is Wheelchair Nazi, a disabled man with a German accent and a swastika in his wallet. Or Ms. Simple who clearly lives in a group home and spends her few pennies on snacks and things for her and her housemates. There is also Out Tranny whom I haven't connected with really but I think suspects something. How do you say "Hey, I'm a freak too! Cash-back on your debit card?". Organic Hippie Daddy hasn't been around in a while but he is always so kind, friendly and leisurely paced. Big Gal hasn't been around with her sardonic sense of humour and been-there done-that attitude as well. Always good for a much needed laugh. My Check-Out boyfriend came in today and overheard it was my birthday today and called me "just a pup". It is now clinched: he is totally a gay. Not that it wasn't before. But only gays call beards "bearish" and people 23-years-old "pups". I think he just likes having another gay at the grocery store though, so nothing serious. This is a medium sized city after all. It's totally easy to be out but the sheer improbability of finding another gay in day to day life is a tad daunting as to no longer become a point of contemplation in common interaction.
The corporate overlords at Head Office looking for new and exciting ways to exploit the workforce can go. But I really love the people where I work. Sure there are unhappy people and sometimes they can be really hurtful. But my honest perspective is that they've probably some reason to act that way. It'd be best if they didn't but if I had a terminally ill loved one or unsure of how I'd keep my home I think it's likely I might be a bit bitchy to the grocery store clerk as well. It's when you are kind in return and catch them off guard... then you affect the world. To make the world just a tiny bit smaller, warmer and friendly... that's what motivates me to take the shit hours, pay and occasional abuse. Because everyone knows the world is a cold enough place.
