The Hardworking, Loyal Youth at Your Local Grocer
Posted by: ErikL on 11 December 2003
Something funny happened tonight. I was browsing the fresh produce section of my local grocer, comparing the prices of organic and genetically modified bananas, when a young supermarket employee came racing over to me, with wide eyes and a stupid grin.
The kid, maybe 25, shouted "you outta come back in about 30 minutes" when he was still about 10 feet away. I thought "who the f*ck are you?" and "why the f*ck would I want to return; I hate supermarkets around rush hour".
My body language and facial expressions typically communicate my thoughts effectively, but either they failed or they weren't properly read in this case. Briskly speed-walking by me, the stockist waved me over to another section of the produce, offering "come here and check THIS out". He then pointed to an entire row of avocados and tomatoes, maybe 15 feet wide.
The stupid sh*t was organizing boxes of the avocados to spell "F*CK YOU", and boxes of tomatoes to serve as the alternate background. Funny, I thought, but probably not something his boss would like. He then explained the reason for his protest- his ideas for reorganizing his department were completely shrugged off by a region manager and the store manager.
I had to laugh- he kind of reminded me of myself when I was 22, engineering degree in hand amidst a nasty recession, working a sh*t job in a stocking room, telling the plant manager whose ideas I thought were pathetic to go f*ck himself and to shove his inhalers up his ass (the company manufactured inhalers for asthma sufferers).
The kid, maybe 25, shouted "you outta come back in about 30 minutes" when he was still about 10 feet away. I thought "who the f*ck are you?" and "why the f*ck would I want to return; I hate supermarkets around rush hour".
My body language and facial expressions typically communicate my thoughts effectively, but either they failed or they weren't properly read in this case. Briskly speed-walking by me, the stockist waved me over to another section of the produce, offering "come here and check THIS out". He then pointed to an entire row of avocados and tomatoes, maybe 15 feet wide.
The stupid sh*t was organizing boxes of the avocados to spell "F*CK YOU", and boxes of tomatoes to serve as the alternate background. Funny, I thought, but probably not something his boss would like. He then explained the reason for his protest- his ideas for reorganizing his department were completely shrugged off by a region manager and the store manager.
I had to laugh- he kind of reminded me of myself when I was 22, engineering degree in hand amidst a nasty recession, working a sh*t job in a stocking room, telling the plant manager whose ideas I thought were pathetic to go f*ck himself and to shove his inhalers up his ass (the company manufactured inhalers for asthma sufferers).