Small town life. There’s absolutely nothing more refreshing or sweet than living in Small Town, USA. In my town, people wave to each other with a smile. More times than not, neighbors are found chatting in the aisles at WalMart. School bus drivers wave at locals. We all wave to our men in blue. Everyone knows everyone.
It was on the local “town square” of Facebook I’d heard about someone I wanted to meet. “Check out Linda.” “Linda will brighten your day.” “Go Linda.” It seemed the grocery store had employed a new celebrity! Linda!!!!! She was the checker full of golden smiles and kind words bagged up free with every order. The compliments were glowing. This Linda must be a pretty special gal.
I don’t know about you, but I hate to grocery shop as much as I hate to cook. Disliking it so much, I sometimes order groceries through curbside delivery. If you haven’t tried this miraculous little service, give it a whirl. You simply “walk” down the cyber aisles of your store, picking this and choosing that. You fill your virtual basket, pay online, and wait at the door for your delivery. In my tiny town, I can actually watch the delivery person leave the store and make their way to my house. Delightful.
In my experience, the delivered produced has been fresh, frozen foods frozen, and the bread and chips unharmed. Everything as fresh and perfect as if I’d picked it out myself. I’ve even received calls for permission to substitute an item for one that’s unavailable.
With my last delivery, there was an added bonus. Delivery Man John. Just like always, my phone alerted me to the eminent arrival and I opened the garage door. A nice, shiny car pulled up, and out popped John. I knew his name, because it flashed on my phone. “John will be delivering your groceries in one minute.”
Yes, indeed, John did arrive. Neat and clean, driving a car that didn’t make obnoxious noises, he quickly opened the trunk to retrieve the bags of groceries. Tanned and toned, while sharing our small town smile, Senior Citizen John left the groceries in the garage and was off. John got five stars from me. Absolutely another reason I love grocery home delivery. Just sayin.
But, a woman cannot be a hermit forever, and grocery shopping qualifies as an outing. Needing to find out more about Linda and running low on coffee creamer, I grabbed my list and was off.
You’d never know I live alone by looking at my grocery bills. A little of this and a lot of that can add up. Even though one only needs a Bay Leaf once a year, you still need to buy the entire bottle. This is true for every single item in the kitchen. Things expire. Not the Bay Leaves, of course, but other things. Like the entire jar of Bleu Cheese salad dressing bought for dinner with a special guest. Chicken soup, waiting for the day Covid or the common cold comes roaring through Winterpast. Random things age out. My grocery cart is always full of replacements and things to make meals that might sound good someday when I might feel like cooking.
The perimeter of the grocery store is the only place one really needs to shop. Everything healthy is found along the perimeter. But, it’s the inner aisles that hold all extras, so up and down I roll. At least the idiotic “One Way” signs are removed from the floors. Who shops in a traffic pattern? How did this prevent Covid? I’m surprised they didn’t insist on traffic circles, as well. Insanity at its finest and yet another reason grocery delivery is a good way to go.
With a full basket, one register glowed OPEN. In luck, I was the only customer and I started unloading items on the belt. Out of nowhere, and louder than expected, came a happy voice, “Hello there! Welcome!!!! Is your day going well? What are you planning to make with the zucchini?”
LINDA!!!!!!!!!!
Smiling, because I couldn’t help it, Linda and I conversed while she scanned and stuffed my groceries. Putting in my Rewards number displayed my name, and I became “Joy” instead of just “Honey” or “Ma’am”. In the time it took to bag up $87.50 worth of groceries, cheerfulness surrounded Aisle 1. The three customers waiting behind me were enjoying the conversation and adding to it. A little party at Check Out, all because someone was smart enough to hire Linda.
Linda isn’t the thinnest or youngest. She IS the happiest. She shares that happiness with every single person that goes through her line. People notice this and don’t mind waiting for her services. I certainly didn’t mind paying higher prices to be treated like a human being. Her smiles were well worth the added cost of doing business at a real grocery store versus Walmart.
When I asked her if she was THE Linda, she blushed. She knew about the hundreds of nice comments on Facebook. She was grateful for every one of them.
“My customers are just the best. Way too kind. I love you guys.”
Linda. Look for a Linda at your grocery store. If there isn’t one, you be the Linda. The world needs happy kindness right now. It’s out there. Go find it.