I was standing in line at the grocery store, a middle aged woman before me, chatting with the checker as her order was tallied. A younger woman, college aged, stood juggling items behind me as I put my own selections down to be scanned.
It was that bewitching hour of half past four. The time of day when shoppers are on their way home from work, going to work on a later shift, picking up forgotten ingredients to make treats for the park district baseball game, or in need a medication at the in-store pharmacy that was finally filled.
I was placing my items on the belt, mentally tallying the damage to my wallet, when the younger woman quietly queried when Mother’s Day was.
“This coming Sunday.”
A relieved look came to her face. I could see several greeting cards in her hand. “You still have time” I prompted, as she audibly sighed. “Are you doing something with your mother this weekend?”.
She shook her head and said “No, my mother is in Italy“. She then proceeded to tell me her mom was on a vacation with friends, having a very good time in Italy. My items rolled closer to purchase.
“The problem is, I don’t know what to get her.”
Hmmm? While she could conceivably go online and send her mom something that would arrive by Sunday, I imagined a rather exorbitant price to pay in delivery, especially for someone who looked to be on a Ramen noodle diet.
“Does your mom have access to the internet?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you have a friend take a picture and send it to her, wishing her a Happy Mother’s Day?”
A hug followed, right there in the line of the grocery story. The middle-aged woman ahead of me and the cashier smiled, kindred spirits, it seemed, as someone’s daughter, behind me in line, told me her siblings would be with her at their grandmother’s house on Mother’s Day and she would send them all, via the internet, to her mom, in Italy just as I made my purchase.
Amazing the conversations that occur while standing in line. Have you had any interesting ones lately? What would you have told the young woman?
Lifeonthecutoff's Blog 
Brilliant!! 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂
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I don’t know what i would have told her, but that was a great idea. I love the camaraderie that happens in checkout lines … it can even change the tenor of a day.
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It does often change the “tenor of the day”, Teresa, and sometimes they are the best conversations with no strings attached. Thank you.
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Penny, what a wonderful and heart-warming story. The young woman was lucky to have you there in the line. I’ve also had some ‘line’ moments that were great. Even a smile or a sympathetic ‘you go first, you’ve only got a couple of items,’ can make a day.
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Thank you, Juliet. “line” moments. That a great phrase and exactly what these pieces of time are. I think we all feel a little bit better when we let someone else go first, or are so offered, in line.
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How sweet! It is so nice to get a picture of the kids. I have had lots of line moments. Lately as I have helped my daughter with baby wrangling as she shops, I have noticed that babies make people talk. “How old is he? He is so cute. I love that age.” Things like that are common. When others have a baby too, birth weights, size, teeth, food, etc. are all discussed as the infants check each other out with big wondering eyes.
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If I were in Italy on Mother’s Day, I know I would be thrilled to get a picture. In fact, in case a family member is reading, I’d love getting a picture and I’m not in Italy. 😉
Babies are the best for standing in line talk, aren’t they? Even when they are fussing. I love watching babies watching other babies. So curious and I always wonder what they are thinking and seeing, and you, dear friend, are getting plenty of baby talk time these days. Yea!
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As someone who struggles to get anything for her mother, I can relate to the plight of this woman. I always default to ‘time with me,’ though I’m not sure how much of a gift that really is. 🙂
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Andra, “time with me” is, in my opinion, always a good option. I cherish lunch or coffee, perhaps some shopping with both of my daughters, and I’m sure you mom does as well (even if we do comment, er, criticize this or that or the other.
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This is a great story Penny. My standing in a line story from yesterday isn’t so delightful…but fairly typical of what happens here in Caunes. I went to the post office to mail a small package to Jess back in England for her birthday next week. I didn’t go at 9.00am when it opens as there is usually a large queue waiting for opening time. I left it until 9.45 am….. I was in luck, there were only 7 people in front of me !
People seem to bank with the post office, and do much of the bill paying they have to undertake regularly here. There is one person at the counter, dealing with everything from requests for one stamp, to very complex financial transactions. Everyone says Bonjour to everyone in the line, as they join it, and Au revoir when they finally leave the building….by which time they tend to have had time for very long winded conversations with everyone in the queue. I managed to mail my parcel and leave the bureau de poste within 40 minutes of arriving. I had made a few new friends……but I am very glad I was not in a hurry !
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Ah, the trials and tribulation of going to the post office, Janice, seem universal, though sounds much friendlier there in Caunes than hereabouts. I might try saying Bonjour and Au revoir next time. tee hee Actually, while the post office line usually has a curmudgeon or two, I find most folks are pretty friendly if given the chance. I loved reading your standing in line story – and imagine Jess’s delight receiving those birthday packages. Thanks you, Janice.
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Perfect, Penny. Her mother will be so delighted!! I always seem to get in conversations with people in the grocery store, but in the aisles.more than in the checkout lane. I have recipes perfect strangers have given me and I have played that forward. Once we got invited to a church supper (even though we were just camping in the town for the night).
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How delightful your comment was to read, Sallie, and you remind me that I, too, have received recipes from strangers and given a few out myself. In the hustle and bustle of life, we sometimes forget the kindnesses, like this chance meetings, that make our days just a bit more pleasant.
Thank you, Sallie.
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What a perfect suggestion, Penny. I’m always getting into conversation with people in the queue and with the cashier, though I’m not sure I’d have come up with such a brainwave. Happy Mother’s Day when it comes. Ours was in March. 🙂
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The answer just popped out of my mouth, Perpetua. My first thought was what would I like in the situation – and a photo was it. Mother’s Day, here in the States, is today, Sunday, the 11th. It has dawned clear and sunny and looks to be a very nice day. I love hearing about the shared holidays, across the globe, be it honoring mothers, veterans, saints, and more, it is that we take the time to show appreciation – and for you, dear friend across the sea, I am appreciative.
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I think your suggestion was inspired, and so, by the sounds of it, did the girl 🙂 Must store that one up. It could come in useful.
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When your children go off to university, the “big” city, or just adulthood, you can ask for just this kind of gift, Kate. It is the best one of all.
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Happy Mother’s Day Penny! I think your suggestion for the photo was what you would have wanted under the same circumstances. It was something that made a mother many miles away very happy indeed. In a way it was a gift to a mother from a mother and I hope the daughter tells her about it someday. I am thinking of you today.
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What a dear you are, Marilyn. Thank you for your words, and for thinking about me! I seem to be taking forever-and-a-day to respond to comments, lately, and to writing posts, but, I appreciate you always being here.
It was a delightful day – and then, the rain came. Phew!
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Dear Penny, you are really able to think quickly…and such good thinking too! Wouldn’t it be a delight if you were in the grocery store again and met the young woman and she could share with you her mother’s response to that thoughtful gift! Peace.
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I was having a lucid moment there, Dee. It would be a delight to see this young woman again and hear “the rest of the story”. I hope she followed through and did, indeed, send her mother a picture.
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My son’s fiancée and I were just talking about this. How women talk. How we talk to completely unknown to us other women, and about deep stuff. I love what you told her.
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Thanks, Nan.
We do talk about deep stuff to other, unknown women, don’t we? I think that the lines in grocery stores or passers-by on the street, women waiting at the doctor’s office and all are an extension of the garden gates or clotheslines of life.
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