Two Ladies

Two ladies stand in line at the grocery store.

Both seemingly dressed like they had just gotten off a long day of work.

High heels, leather bags, their blow-dries flattened by humidity and hours.

The two ladies half-smile at each other as they get closer to the cashier to fill the awkward space between them.

The first lady gradually makes it to the front of line.

Even though on that day the two ladies only stood behind a total of two other people, the lady in the front of the other lady grows increasingly frustrated as she gets to the front of the line.

She looks to the lady behind her,

throws her hands up, snarls and swipes her eyes from the bag person and back again to the lady behind her and punctuates her nonverbal declamation with a wide-eyed stare, indicating that she has assessed the speed of the baggage handler.

She does not approve.

“Unbelievable,” she says to the lady behind her, as the lady behind her seemingly looked to be of the same cloth and by default same thinking. Clearly, this line is being poorly managed, she conveys with dramatic discomfort.

But the lady behind her is not of the same thinking, and she surprises the lady in front of her when she buries her chin into her neck, cocks her right eye, making the narrows of her nostril absurdly reach for the crows feet around her eye and says, “I think, lady, you are unbelievable.”

We are not of the same cloth, same thinking, she shrugs.

The lady in the front struts off.

And the cashier, the bag person, and the lady behind her stand in a silent triangle of agreement.

***A big thank you from the lady behind the other lady to Ralph’s Grocery Store!!!! Hiring individuals with visible disabilities is a sign of great management! Thank you, thank you, thank you for normalizing our normal!