Late Night Shopping

I pull into a parking stall and put my car in park.  I sit and look around for a moment.  There are several open spots around me, but there are several cars driving around the lot, entering and exiting.  For a late night, there is still plenty of activity.

A black mustang pulls up next to me.  A couple beats pass before anyone gets out.  I watch the workers round up shopping carts and pull masses from the corrals.  Finally a woman climbs from the passenger side of the mustang.  Then a man from the other side.  They walk into the store.

I climb out of my car and make my way to the entrance.  I grab a cart and toss my purse in.  I see a two young people mulling over some sort of produce.  Ghost Girl has the palest skin I've ever seen, with blackest black hair styled in a short boyish cut.  She seems to be impatient.  As I take note of the odd boy's shirt saying "In Memory of.... The Days That I Cared", I realize they are not alone.  An older man, the father, I suppose approaches them.  He drops an item or two in the cart and turns back around.  Ghost Girl and Odd Boy follow.  They move a few yards away in the produce.

I see a couple at the bin of jalapeños.  They're sorting through the large pile to find a pepper that meets their standards.  They speak in a language that I don't understand... But they're the couple from the black mustang.

There's a gangster man, covered in tattoos that's filling his cart alone.  I wonder why he's alone.  I'd imagine he has a companion somewhere.  Loner hangs out by the salad section.  I have to leave him to switch out my cart.  It's making a terrible screeching noise, and there's no way I'll be able to hear anyone's conversations if I have to listen to this thing!

I return immediately.  I see the odd family of three again.  Dad continues to move them around.  Ghost Girl remains uninterested.  She leans against the cart, iPhone in hand.  Odd boy drags his feet as they walk away.

I see Loner again.  He's still alone, getting some frozen burritos.  I move on to the breakfast isle.

At first I'm the only one there.  I stand and ponder over granola bars.  A man quickly approaches behind me.  And I mean quickly.  He's speed walking like the speed of light.  He seems to be in a hurry.  But then he takes quite sometime to find the granola bars he likes.  He tosses two boxes in his cart, and once again begins to walk like a maniac.  I take a peek into his cart as he passes.  He's a health nut.  That explains the speed walking!

I stand in the same isle for a moment.  A couple passes by, one carrying a gallon of milk, the other with a large bottle of creamer.  I wait some more.  Then I hear a conversations, so I round the corner to get a closer look.  Two workers are talking with a guy dressed nicely, Mr. Fancy Pants.  I wonder if he's a manager, but he doesn't have any accessories to prove it.  They're speaking in a language that I don't understand.  I wait a moment to see if I can decipher anything at all, but I can't.  So, I move on again and meet up with Loner.  He's chewing something.... Gum? No, something a lot bigger.  He stands for a moment and looks around while he chews.  He picks up various items from the cold section and throws them in the cart.

There's a guy looking at the lunch meat.  He is comparing two packs for size.  We'll call him Penny Pincher.  After all, these were damn near identical packages of meat.  Why were we comparing?!  He doesn't have any other items, or even a cart.

Loner continues in the cold section.  He tosses items with such skill.  It's all in the wrist!  He's getting decently healthy food.  That surprises me for some reason.

Mr. Fancy Pants approaches with one of the women from the previous conversation.  She is pushing a cart with her purse in it.  While still dressed in her uniform, she must be off duty.  The couple approaches a young African American worker.  They have a conversation, but it's hard to understand. Towards the end they laugh.  Mrs. Off-Duty starts to walk away.  Mr. Fancy Pants gets the hint.  They go on their way.

I notice that Penny Pincher has finally decided on a lunch meat.  He's in route to his next destination.

Minutes pass with nothing notable to report.  I see Penny Pincher on the main isle, he's on his way to the front of the store.  He has his meat, and now a large dark bottle.  I couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like a large beer bottle.  Interesting.

I make my way to a new department.  There's only one guy at first, Hat Guy.  He's looking inside glass cases.  I do the same, stalling to see what he'll do next.  Nothing.  He eventually walks away.  I hear the phone ring uncontrollably!  Is someone going to get that?!  I see at least 25 screens in front of me.  They're all showing the same ad, casting out the same audio.  They're telling me to sign up for an unlimited mobile plan.  I move forward.  I see a worker at the check out booth now.  Why didn't she answer the phone?  Hat Guy has moved.  He appears to be on the phone, but I can't hear him.  He continues to roam the isles.  There's nothing more here to see, so I move on.

I see two workers.  They're talking, but I don't stick around, because once again I can't understand what they're saying.  I don't know a lick of Spanish!

I approach a new department.  As I do there is a group of three female employees disbursing.  I get the sense that they are unhappy.  One goes off to work.  The other two stay in the general area.  Bobcut tells Long Hair that she found a cart full of cardboard boxes as she pulls it over to their work area.  This makes Long Hair extremely unhappy!  She mutters something along the lines of "Seriously, I'm not taking their cardboard too".  They decide that since the cart was already there, they can just leave it there.  Both of them seem very unhappy.  The sound one one of the small screens displaying an ad seems to bother them.  Bobcut decides to attempt to turn the sound off.  She looks for a switch on the back.  Nope.  Then she follows the cords to the back of the shelf.  Nope.  She walks away, failing to turn the noise off.  Then Long Hair gives it a shot.  She gets the sound off. I wonder if that's even allowed.  I also wonder if they'll put the sound back on when they're done working in the area.  With their attitude, I doubt it.

A moment later, someone, I think a manager, or perhaps a shift leader greets her.  It's a nice greeting, he seems cheerful, and at first Long Hair responds nicely too.  But then she realizes that she wan't so talk to this man.  They discuss her schedule for a brief moment.  She complains of her back and says that she can't be bending over into carts and such.  Her tone is awful.  You'd think she was going through her teenage years, dishing out hella attitude to her parents.  Except, she looks to be at least 40.  Bobcut decides to join get conversation.  She starts complaining.  The three of them begin talking about another man who isn't present.  Bobcut says that he's from another store, and that he wants to come in and change everything.  She says she's "done with his damn shit".  (Uh, hello?  Do you see your customers around?!)  The guy says he's sorry, but Bobcut and Long Hair immediately cut him off saying "No, you're not sorry".  They say that he is supposed to stand up for them and support them.  They say that if the work gets done, it shouldn't matter how it gets done.  The guy leaves.  The feisty women are still in attitude mode.  I have found my department of drama!  They're still oblivious to me, even though I'm less than 5 feet away!  Bobcut and Long Hair continue to stand there instead of work.  Bobcut makes eye contact with me, so I move out.

I approach check-out.  There are five lanes with lights on.  I choose one where the previous customer is paying and is soon on his way.  I begin unloading the 6-7 items that I have.  The cashier says "Hi". I say "Hi" back.  Then Mrs. Off-Duty gets in line behind me.  I wonder if Mr. Fancy Pants will show up soon too.  Off-Duty and the Check Out Guy start a conversation in Spanish.  He says nothing more to me as he scans my items and I pay.  Then he gives me change and finally tells me to have a good night.  I say "You too" as I walk away.

I exit the store and make my way to my car.  A few cars are active in the parking lot.  I put my two bags into the back seat and walk my cart to the corral.  I return to my car and pull out of the parking spot.  As I drive by the entrance of the building, I notice a man almost completely covered by a large jacket sitting on the ground.  His head it tucked in.  A dog sits next to him.  I didn't notice them when I came out, but I do now.  I drive past and out of the parking lot.