A little girl that lost her mommy in the mall
This morning, we ran out of toilet paper. It happens, you know? So, I decided to run out, since I had a twenty on me, and get some from the 99c Store to tide us over. I have come into the habit of constantly checking my pockets for whatever I'm bringing with me when I don't bring my bag, just to make sure it's always there.
I go into the 99c Store and browse, picking up toilet paper, paper towel, and an impulse candy on the cheap. I see that the front registers are bogged down and head to the back registers, passing through the freezer/beverages section. I get to the register and everything is good. The woman is nice, I didn't have to wait in a line because her register was currently empty, and it was speedy (as I only had a couple of things). But as she's about done scanning, my digging adventure into my pocket for the 20dollar bill comes up to nothing. It's not there. I check the other pocket. An old receipt. I check the back pockets I never put anything in. It's not there. I go back to the original pocket and it's still not there.
I am terrified. No cashier wants to scan stuff in (even a small order) and find that their customer doesn't have the cash. All sorts of sucky-customer related things could happen. I feel like I went white under my skin as I told her "I'm sorry, I think someone picked my pocket or my money fell out. Could you please just cancel the transaction?"
No fuss, she looked sadly at me and did it. I went back along her check-out into the store and stood there at the foot of her lane for a moment, looking lost, like I'd just lost my mother in the mall. Frown on my face. Eyes looking crushed. I'd lost a twenty dollar bill.
It used to be, I'd just get flustered and rush out, but the importance of money has been hitting home with me lately, and I just looked shocked as I finally picked up my feet and tried to retrace my steps. I get to the head of the freezer/bev aisle and look down it, hoping to catch a glimpse of green, even though the store is full of people wandering. I just feel this dread that I will go through the store and not find it and call myself foolish for expecting someone to actually see a twenty and not use it for their own thing.
I sigh heavily and someone behind me goes, "Are you looking for someone?"
I turn around slowly, smiling sadly at how suck this is for me already, and say to the bald man in the blue shirt, "...Nnnoooo, I *sigh* lost my twenty..." And I start to turn to look hopefully down the aisle again as I struggle to figure out whether to give up or not.
"Oh! Hey, I've got it!" And I look over to him with a O_o?! expression as he reaches into his pocket and pulls it out, unfolding it as he hands it over and sees the gleefully happy look on my face as I am flooded with sweet relief.
He said he was just about to go up to the register to hand it over. Whether or not this is true, the fact that he readily gave it up when I confessed my monetary loss was more than enough. I thanked him so much and hastened back to the check out lane and asked the cashier if she still had much stuff. She'd just been bagging it to set it aside to be put back, and she said "You got it?"
And I told her that this man found my twenty and gave it to me. She looked SHOCKED, of course. In a world of greed, you don't expect someone to have the intention of a good thing or to so readily do the good thing on an instant of finding something to ease the financial struggle. She told me how lucky I was, and I told her I completely agreed as I paid for my things. I hastened out into the hot, dry, dusty soCal summer air and thanked the powers that be over and over.... for the twenty dollar bill.
Sorry, Janitor Dave from elementary school, I'm really not an Indian Princess anymore.
I go into the 99c Store and browse, picking up toilet paper, paper towel, and an impulse candy on the cheap. I see that the front registers are bogged down and head to the back registers, passing through the freezer/beverages section. I get to the register and everything is good. The woman is nice, I didn't have to wait in a line because her register was currently empty, and it was speedy (as I only had a couple of things). But as she's about done scanning, my digging adventure into my pocket for the 20dollar bill comes up to nothing. It's not there. I check the other pocket. An old receipt. I check the back pockets I never put anything in. It's not there. I go back to the original pocket and it's still not there.
I am terrified. No cashier wants to scan stuff in (even a small order) and find that their customer doesn't have the cash. All sorts of sucky-customer related things could happen. I feel like I went white under my skin as I told her "I'm sorry, I think someone picked my pocket or my money fell out. Could you please just cancel the transaction?"
No fuss, she looked sadly at me and did it. I went back along her check-out into the store and stood there at the foot of her lane for a moment, looking lost, like I'd just lost my mother in the mall. Frown on my face. Eyes looking crushed. I'd lost a twenty dollar bill.
It used to be, I'd just get flustered and rush out, but the importance of money has been hitting home with me lately, and I just looked shocked as I finally picked up my feet and tried to retrace my steps. I get to the head of the freezer/bev aisle and look down it, hoping to catch a glimpse of green, even though the store is full of people wandering. I just feel this dread that I will go through the store and not find it and call myself foolish for expecting someone to actually see a twenty and not use it for their own thing.
I sigh heavily and someone behind me goes, "Are you looking for someone?"
I turn around slowly, smiling sadly at how suck this is for me already, and say to the bald man in the blue shirt, "...Nnnoooo, I *sigh* lost my twenty..." And I start to turn to look hopefully down the aisle again as I struggle to figure out whether to give up or not.
"Oh! Hey, I've got it!" And I look over to him with a O_o?! expression as he reaches into his pocket and pulls it out, unfolding it as he hands it over and sees the gleefully happy look on my face as I am flooded with sweet relief.
He said he was just about to go up to the register to hand it over. Whether or not this is true, the fact that he readily gave it up when I confessed my monetary loss was more than enough. I thanked him so much and hastened back to the check out lane and asked the cashier if she still had much stuff. She'd just been bagging it to set it aside to be put back, and she said "You got it?"
And I told her that this man found my twenty and gave it to me. She looked SHOCKED, of course. In a world of greed, you don't expect someone to have the intention of a good thing or to so readily do the good thing on an instant of finding something to ease the financial struggle. She told me how lucky I was, and I told her I completely agreed as I paid for my things. I hastened out into the hot, dry, dusty soCal summer air and thanked the powers that be over and over.... for the twenty dollar bill.
Sorry, Janitor Dave from elementary school, I'm really not an Indian Princess anymore.