One Day at the Piggly Wigley

 

The young boy at the end of the checkout was placing each item in the grocery bag, then once the bag was full he would lift it into the shopping cart. Lois was keeping one watchful eye on him while also keeping track of the totals being rung up at the register.

 

The moment she saw him drop a can of pork & beans on top of her Wonder bread she yelled.  “Young man, you just squished my bread.”

 

The cashier stopped ringing up the items on the conveyer and the store manager, who was standing close by, came rushing over.  He looked into the bag of freshly packed groceries and could clearly see the can-shaped dent in the loaf of bread.

 

“Tommy, go and get this customer a new loaf of bread and then report to my office.”

 

The store manager’s office was up one flight of stairs and had windows overlooking the rest of the store.  Tommy walked in and sat in front of the manager’s desk, waiting for the manager to return to his office. 

 

It wasn’t but a few minutes until the manager walked in and closed the door behind him.  He sat at his desk and looked across at Tommy.  “You have gone through our training program, and you know better.  Tell me why I shouldn’t fire you right now.” 

 

Tommy sat a little more upright in his chair and in a calm voice explained his reason for dropping the beans on the loaf of bread.

 

“You see, Mr. Nelson, Lester was packing groceries at the next station to mine.  He had his back to me and couldn’t see what I was doing.  As you know, he is just back from the war and is still getting acclimated to civilian life.  Any loud or surprising noises can set him off.  I knew that by dropping the can of beans next to the bread they would have struck the countertop and could have startled poor Lester.  However, by cushioning the impact with the soft bread, he wouldn’t have heard a thing, and the bread would have eventually sprung back to its original shape, probably by the time the customer had gotten home.”

 

“Did you just make all that up?”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“Go down and finish your shift.  When you come in tomorrow be wearing a white shirt.  I can use an assistant manager who can think on their feet.”

 

 

 The story you just read is true.  The bread returning to its original shape may have been an exaggeration.