Grocery Art

Have you ever watched an efficient cashier scan and punch in numbers in such swift movement that it looks like a dance? Since I am learning to bag without straining my shoulder and back, I closely observed my cashier today. If you notice, they move quick and light from one side of the belt to the other with a slight twist, running the objects across the scanner as their brains work fast in a nonchalant expression to put their customers at ease. The good ones are remarkable.

Left to right.
Right to left.
One slide to the other.

The customer to cashier to bagger transfer is like the torch relay seen on the Olympics. From shelf, to cart, to belt, to bag. One by one, the items dance in one smooth direction in varying rhythm and weight. The cabbage and lettuce heads do their pirouettes. The eggs slide across gently in dozens. Fuzzy peaches, apples and navels struggle to stay in ripped plastic bags. Giggling grapes detach from their vines like escape artists. The spin and tumble of cereal boxes rub their bottoms along the edge followed by the awkward roll of the goofy watermelon. Bags of pasta, tiny chap sticks, cellophane wrapped gift cards, hard to scan berry cartons and vitamin bottles all carrying a different dignity as they move across the counter stage, posing ever so slightly until the beep. Light. Goofy. Rude. Awkward. Stubborn. Kind. Like their customers. Like an art in dance form.

If you think you are JUST buying groceries, think again.