Standing in the grocery line behind the pretty lady with the worried smile who asks for a price check on the cereal and milk she was buying. The cashier rings it up and slides her EBT card through and says, “You don’t have enuf points.” The pretty lady says, “Try the powdered milk instead of the fresh.” The card is still declined. The pretty lady smiles and says, “Nevermind. Thank you” and leaves her purchase on the conveyor belt and walks out of the grocery store smiling, but weary. I ask the cashier, “Is that all she has?” She says, ” Yes” and I say, “I’ll pay for it.” As she rings it up, I grab the bag leaving my basket and run down the street to find the pretty lady. When I catch up to her, I say, “Excuse me, you left ur groceries,” and I hand her the bag. She looks at me and says “Oh, no, my babies won’t go hungry tonite. Thank you, thank you so much.” She made me tear up, “You’re welcome, no problem at all.” As I walked back to the store , all I could think of was my Mommy making grits, eggs and welfare cheese last a whole month. Remembering Mommy telling the world, “At least my babies never went to bed hungry…” My Mommy made magic on $50/week and foodstamps….Now I understand what my being here means…ache
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorGood Bread Alley Playwright, April Yvette Thompson Categories
All
|