ELGIN, IL—In a sad attempt at engaging in human interaction, local grocery clerk Leonard Wilcox, 31, made a comment on a store patron's frozen pea selection as he was scanning the item to include in the total bill.
After being starved for some meaningful conversation over the last 4 hours, Wilcox became increasingly agitated by the beep of the scanner, the noise of the receipt printer, and the buzz of the background music in the store that repeats every 90 minutes. Living alone with only his cats after his girlfriend left him 16 months ago, Wilcox looks forward to work each day if only to sometimes accidentally make eye contact with another human being.
The installation of the self-checkouts 4 months prior has further limited Wilcox's interactions with others, as he generally fills his time with taking inventory or stocking shelves while customers pass by without taking notice. His coworkers are often in other areas tending to their duties, leaving Wilcox in solitude.
At approximately 2:43 p.m. yesterday, Mary van den Hoogen, 37, entered the store to restock on grocery items for the rest of the week. Among them was a bag of frozen peas that van den Hoogen thought would complement her dinner plans for this coming Sunday. As van den Hoogen placed her chosen items on the conveyor belt, Wilcox sighted the peas and saw his chance. The woman seemed pleasant enough, as if she would reveal some insights to her soul or the state of the world in her eyes if only he could say the right thing. Wilcox first tried his standard, "Find everything you needed?" line, to which van den Hoogen replied only with a vague "Yeah."
Not ready to give up, Wilcox made his move, "Frozen peas, huh? Something special planned?" As he heard the words escape his lips, he comprehended how stupid they must have sounded, and prepared for the worst possible response.
Van den Hoogen seemed confused by the question for a moment before shaking her head and saying, "Nope. Just peas," thus knocking the conversation flat on its back.
In a last desperate attempt, Wilcox went further out on the limb to reveal something about himself. "I always liked frozen peas okay." With that juicy tidbit hanging in the open air, Wilcox thought for sure van den Hoogen would take the bait by revealing an intimate detail of her own personality.
"At least they're easy, I guess."
By then, Wilcox had finished scanning and bagging the items, requiring the conversation to move toward the awkward topic of the bill. Van den Hoogen took the news well, though, as if she had an idea of how much the total would be before she entered the store. Her confidence gave Wilcox new respect for her, and he felt that they arrived at a state of general respect by the time he handed her the receipt, and then walked out of his life. Although he would sometimes see van den Hoogen in the store again in the future, things were never quite the same after she declined assistance with her bags to her car. Wilcox was glad to have had the frozen peas moment, though. He would hold onto it for years.
When reached for comment on the interaction, van den Hoogen said, "Who?"
Comments