OOM: Shopping
July 7th
10:03AM
It came to her that maybe she didn't notice the difference because she was already used to the change. A few days into this and Chris was so used to the increased presence of police that she didn't pay much attention to the squad car in the parking lot. Not until she was inside and saw an officer sitting up front near the only entrance with a German Shepard parked at his feet. Even though Chris knew those dogs were trained to ignore a steak if it was thrown at them her first thought was still that a dog in the supermarket seemed weird.
Pushing her cart to a stop at the end of the pet food aisle, she looks down at the paper in her hand and up again at the slim cans of dog food. Her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Cruz, had a yippy gray Pomeranian that always seemed to take notice of Coco whenever their paths crossed. Today she had run into Ms. Cruz, sans Coco, and somehow she mentioned to her neighbor that she was going to the store. Between her seeming confusion that Chris wasn't having her "gentleman friend" go instead for her own safety and her fears of going to the store herself after "that awful thing in Houston" it came to Chris that she should probably offer to go for her. She almost felt guilty for not thinking of that sooner but after coming off working 15 hour days for a week, Chris was happy she had enough energy to go. She was getting sick of take-out.
With everything she needed in her cart, Chris made her way to the check-out aisle, idly wondering if it was always this empty at 10AM on a Saturday. While unloading the basket, she noticed a young man enter the store. Looking to be about twenty years old, he was dressed in what were probably designer clothes and had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and an iPod in his pocket. He reminded her of Rohan and she'd guess he was South Asian, maybe Indian. Before she had much time to wonder why her mind had been so quick to categorize him and point out that not all the bombers were Middle Eastern. He was the right age and why did he have a bookbag on him on a Saturday and why didn't he have a cart?
But the latter things also made him too conspicuous and he'd come in alone and, so far, all of the bombers had worked in pairs.
As she passed him on the way out, he was giving the officer a working demonstration of both his iPod and cellphone while the dog sniffed his messenger bag.
Walking out the door, she realized how happy she'd be to crawl into bed till Jack came home. Once inside the car she turned on the radio and the first words she heard sent a cold chill through her.
"... in New York today. Authorities also confiscated plastic explosives similar to the ones used in previous attacks.
She sat there, frozen in her seat, unable to think clearly beyond her silent pleas that her family wasn't anywhere near the city today and her frustration with the reporter for not giving enough info.
"New York Police Commissioner Joyce says that he credits 'the work of our officers, collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the cooperation of the American Muslim community with preventing these attacks'. When informed, President Logan..."
Chris clicked off the radio, closing her eyes for a moment and knowing that she couldn't drive anywhere just yet. Even if crawling into bed and hiding there for the rest of the week seemed like the best idea she'd had in a long time.
Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed. They were ok, she knew that but right now if she was going to get out of this parking lot anytime soon, she needed to be sure. Needed to know that her niece was ok. "Hey, Ryan. Hi. Um. I just heard, on the news..."
10:03AM
It came to her that maybe she didn't notice the difference because she was already used to the change. A few days into this and Chris was so used to the increased presence of police that she didn't pay much attention to the squad car in the parking lot. Not until she was inside and saw an officer sitting up front near the only entrance with a German Shepard parked at his feet. Even though Chris knew those dogs were trained to ignore a steak if it was thrown at them her first thought was still that a dog in the supermarket seemed weird.
Pushing her cart to a stop at the end of the pet food aisle, she looks down at the paper in her hand and up again at the slim cans of dog food. Her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Cruz, had a yippy gray Pomeranian that always seemed to take notice of Coco whenever their paths crossed. Today she had run into Ms. Cruz, sans Coco, and somehow she mentioned to her neighbor that she was going to the store. Between her seeming confusion that Chris wasn't having her "gentleman friend" go instead for her own safety and her fears of going to the store herself after "that awful thing in Houston" it came to Chris that she should probably offer to go for her. She almost felt guilty for not thinking of that sooner but after coming off working 15 hour days for a week, Chris was happy she had enough energy to go. She was getting sick of take-out.
With everything she needed in her cart, Chris made her way to the check-out aisle, idly wondering if it was always this empty at 10AM on a Saturday. While unloading the basket, she noticed a young man enter the store. Looking to be about twenty years old, he was dressed in what were probably designer clothes and had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and an iPod in his pocket. He reminded her of Rohan and she'd guess he was South Asian, maybe Indian. Before she had much time to wonder why her mind had been so quick to categorize him and point out that not all the bombers were Middle Eastern. He was the right age and why did he have a bookbag on him on a Saturday and why didn't he have a cart?
But the latter things also made him too conspicuous and he'd come in alone and, so far, all of the bombers had worked in pairs.
As she passed him on the way out, he was giving the officer a working demonstration of both his iPod and cellphone while the dog sniffed his messenger bag.
Walking out the door, she realized how happy she'd be to crawl into bed till Jack came home. Once inside the car she turned on the radio and the first words she heard sent a cold chill through her.
"... in New York today. Authorities also confiscated plastic explosives similar to the ones used in previous attacks.
She sat there, frozen in her seat, unable to think clearly beyond her silent pleas that her family wasn't anywhere near the city today and her frustration with the reporter for not giving enough info.
"New York Police Commissioner Joyce says that he credits 'the work of our officers, collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the cooperation of the American Muslim community with preventing these attacks'. When informed, President Logan..."
Chris clicked off the radio, closing her eyes for a moment and knowing that she couldn't drive anywhere just yet. Even if crawling into bed and hiding there for the rest of the week seemed like the best idea she'd had in a long time.
Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed. They were ok, she knew that but right now if she was going to get out of this parking lot anytime soon, she needed to be sure. Needed to know that her niece was ok. "Hey, Ryan. Hi. Um. I just heard, on the news..."