Week 5 Theme

I know this is very late- I wrote all of my prompts and theme and completely forgot to post them on the website. :(

It was a hot, stuffy afternoon at Bud’s. The customers were flooding in every second- it was food stamp week so everyone was there to get their welfare fixings. Typical people were coming into my line; crusty old men who had todays lunch still packed into their gray beard. Greasy hair that was caked with dandruff and other things I wasn’t quite sure were. A lot of the women would in with their screaming children- clearly they were on some sort of drug, pills I’d assume. Buying all kinds of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Cheetos, steak dinners, lobster you name it. Of course none of them were buying healthy foods for their children- the sole reason they even have those food stamps.

 It wasn’t until one man came in my line that really confirmed my passionate dislike for welfare recipients. He was the typical grungy looking man. Gray, unshaved face reeked of cigarettes and last nights Jack Daniels. He came into my line and threw his items on the belt. I was watching the ice melt off his coffee flavored ice cream as he piled more junk food onto the belt. Chips, soda, steak, and then there it was. A nice tall half- gallon of a poor mans drink- Orloff Vodka. As I continued to scan each item through I wondered how on earth he was going to pay for the items. Hmm… the irony of knowing that I’m paying for his food is strangely not as funny as I thought it’d be. I thought in my head. As I finished running through all of his items he handed me a coupon. The nerve of this guy trying to get a deal on FREE food! It was a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $30 or more. I looked at the little blue box that read his subtotal it was a little over $30 so I rang in the coupon. After a second of praying that it wouldn’t work, much to my delight the screen beeped back at me and read “Amount not yet reached” It was then that I realized that his Orloff was what put him over the $30 limit. Knowing that he wasn’t getting a deal on his booze was such a relief. I handed him back the coupon and said “Sir, your total doesn’t exceed $30 because of the alcohol.” It was then that he ripped up the long red and white piece of paper and threw it at my face. For a long while  I sat there in disbelief. Shocked that I was just practically attacked in my work place, shocked that no one has killed this man yet and shocked that I didn’t scream. I politely finished his order and he left the store.