1324 - 0521 1996
Pasta, bread, juice, generics. Not medications, but staples. No ice cream, specialty items, granola. Just the basics. Don't want to appear entitled. Leave the crab legs and custom blend coffee for a brighter day.
It was 2:00AM, a still time of peace. Somewhere between night and insomnia. The lights were subdued. The isles where strewn with boxes and the occasional hourly wage on his knees. I hated to take the oatmeal he had just placed so carefully. We acknowledged each other. He, hurriedly moving merchandise. I, trying to look weary. That wasn't difficult. I hoped he would surmise I worked the late shift.
As I trudged along, I recalled the days of not caring the price. A time when I just wanted that which I could never before attain. Not now. Need to make it last. Just as well, though. Maybe I'll shed that belt of dermis I developed over the last half decade. Those Oreos looked yummy. Oh well. Too much sugar anyway. What if I check out only to learn that half of my choices are not acceptable to the Commonwealth? After all, they provided me my new identity; 1324 - 0521 - 1996 . . . Do Mi Re Fa - Do Sol Re Do - Do Re Re La. At least I make for a pleasant musical exposition!
"Do you have a card?" she inquired. Huh? "How are you paying?" I painfully displayed it; Bay State Access. A non-descript debit card. One she has seen many times. I was missing the child on my hip and the Doritos, however. "I have this card. It's my first time using it." I passed it through. Nothing was rejected but my dignity. I quickly moved to help bag my booty. Wanted to appear helpful, deserving. She doesn't know me. Here she is working the night shift for the time and a half. I, on the dole. Wanted to provide her an explanation. I'm not really one of them. I'm just a "head case." Friends insisted I do this.
Wonder if I could have slid some toilet tissue past her? Oh, well. I still have Sunday's Globe!
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