The Lady Had No Interest
Around the third Saturday at Sprouts I began to notice
the regulars. One lady in particular came in the east entrance with her walker,
slowly passed my table with no expression on her face and gently lowered herself
into an electric cart near the west entrance. This happened week after week with
little eye contact and a nod now and again.
A week ago she stopped in front of the display table,
smiled and announced she had forgotten to buy a can to donate. “That’s okay,” I
said a bit surprised at the new found friendliness, “Next week I will have a
sign on your cart to help remind you.”
This Saturday she came up behind me as I was attaching
signs to the three electric carts. And of course, as the laws of happenstance
dictate on this planet, she wanted the one I was working on. The two carts I had
just finished—admittedly not as stylish—would not
do.
“Finish what you are doing,” she said calmly, “I can
wait.”
About a minute later I had the sign attached and stress
tested, tugging firmly at each fastener before turning it over to
her.
There’s kind of a general rule about shopping at
supermarkets. For most folks it takes about 25 minutes to get in and out. At
Sprouts, with all of the enticing food displays and the hands on picking and
scooping, I have noticed that the in and out time is somewhere around 45
minutes. So I had forgotten about the lady in the electric cart when she drove
up and handed me a can. “I remembered,” she said smiling.
A Shopper's Eye View
Any time you invent something it takes a lot of testing
to determine if your product will survive normal usage. I often I think about
automobiles and what engineers have to do to compensate for that inevitable
human question and surprised response, “What’s this do? Ooooops.”
The label backing had to be strong so I selected a
flexible plastic. The label itself would have to be plastic also but my test
sample used paper. As you can see in the photo, the plastic stood up well as did
the connectors—wire and tiny doll clothing buttons—but the paper got attacked by
splashing water and all kinds of food products going in an out of the
cart.
The all plastic and laminated label will experience the
same grocery onslaught but it’s better prepared to do its job of clutching
tightly to the bars while gathering donations for hungry kids and their parents.
Magic Flip Flops
Al Shoemaker, my friend and
neighbor three doors down has been recuperating from serious back surgery. In
the past couple of week he grew weaker and we did not know why. A clue popped up
on a recent visit to the doctor because he complained more about his shoes then
ever before. They just seemed to be too slippery for him to stand easily.
The next day I purchased a handsome pair of flip flops
at Walmart that had nubs on the soles for better traction. (Al calls them
nipples, for some reason.) Well, that did the trick. He can now push on the bed
with one hand to stand up instead of making multiple two handed
attempts.
Al and his house are not ready to receive company just
yet but if you want to show your support, a gift cards from In and Out Burger, Wienerschnitzel or
Boston Chicken will do nicely. I
know he’ll appreciate your concern and it will most definitely lift his spirits
to eat something other than his own cooking. Also, I don’t mind chasing takeout
for him because he’s pretty happy when I return.
We collected a total of 142 lbs. of food. The money we donated
amounted to $34.00, a $25.00 check
and $9.00 in cash.
See you Sunday,
Peter
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