A little bravery

So I'm not often courageous--but I do get pissed off.


I was at the grocery store, talking to my friendly neighborhood grocery clerk through plexiglass, both of us wearing masks. Didn't matter--we could tell we were smiling by our eyes. Chicken was off getting tortillas because I'd forgotten them, and I was paying for my purchase before I started bagging groceries. (We can reuse bags here, as long as we bag our own.)


Anyway--the woman behind me broke the social distance minimum to lean on the counter, and the grocery clerk--you could tell she hated doing this--spoke up.


"You need to back up. You need to remain behind the cone until she's done. And pull up your mask."


"I am tired. My hip hurts." (She had a thick Russian accent.)


"That's fine, but at least pull up your mask."


The woman rolled her eyes. "The government can't see me."


The clerk persisted. "But it's store policy."


"Doesn't matter. Who can see?" She smirked.


"We can see," I said. "It's store policy, and it's human decency. This is for everybody's protection--do what she asks please."


"Government can't see!"


"This isn't for the government it's for us! Be a good citizen and pull your mask up!"


She did, glaring and I finished my purchase just as Chicken ran back with the tortillas. She ran around to finish the bagging, and was short two bags.


The clerk looked me dead in the eye and said, "Don't worry about paying for those. You're fine."


And it wasn't the thirty cents a bag or whatever--it was the acknowledgment. We had each other's backs.


And I need to remember to be brave more often.