Ah yes, the day-to-day activity of the store. Checking out the melons in the back room, a bit of sausage handling in the cooler, grabbing some buns behind the bakery --- all perfectly innocent, completely professional grocery store de rigeur, of course. You didn't think I was talking about romance and gossip, did you? Oh, you naughty-minded reader!
Okay, I fess up. Yes, I am, indeed, talking about romance and gossip at the local supermarket. And believe me, this sample lady sees and hears A LOT. For instance, there's the girl in the salad room who was trolling for men a few months back. She made the mistake of going after my man, and I had to set the little hussy straight. The next day, she was trying for several other fellas, and a few weeks later she was on the arm of a newly-separated-but-still-married front-end manager. Good for them. They're both getting what they deserve. (meeeow)
And then there's the butcher who is poor as a pauper because he spends all his money on booze and his bike, but who convinced the perpetually-PMSing chef that he was going to be her sugar daddy. They married after a few months, and before last year was out, they were separated and headed for divorce court. The store was divided on who we each felt sorriest for. She, after all, was the one who threatened one of the other sample ladies with a butcher knife. Yes, the perpetually-PMSing chef got fired for that one. 'Bout stinkin' time, in the opinion of many of us.
The newest romance at the store is the buxom catering lady and the bakery manager who never, ever smiles. No one is sure how they ever got together or why he doesn't smile more now that he's got a perky girlfriend with even perkier boobs, but it is interesting to watch.
And how 'bout that 50 year old woman who hooked up with the 31 year old guy from the meat department? He doesn't work at Brand A anymore, but word has it that they're engaged now and madly in love. Some say she's a cougar. Others are happy for them that they have found the real thing in a world where it's hard to find someone to truly love -- at any age. I'll tell you more about them in a later post.
We all wondered how the new chef got his job. He has no formal training. His only actual credential is that his former roommate was a culinary student. And now he's head chef at Brand A supermarket? Weird. Weird, that is until you learn that his wife is the head of the accounting department. Ah, now it all makes sense. Nice guy, though. And he sautes a mean mushroom. Yeehaw.
And then there are the standard rumors about whose hours have been cut, who has a new job, and who might or might not have gotten fired or laid off this week. And who among us deserves any of it.
I don't mention any of this to be mean or particularly gossipy. (Well okay, I must admit it's pretty fun to spill my guts about what I know. But still....) I mention this gossip and romance today to point out that it doesn't matter so much what business it is, what industry it's in, or even what city it's located in. When you put large numbers of people together for several hours at a time day after day, these things happen. Love may, indeed, be a "many splendored thing", but let's be honest; it's fun to watch, too.
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