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A sad state of affairs

I was in a liquor store this morning on my way to work. ( getting a water..it was damned hot this morning ), and got into line behind a woman/girl and her ~ 18 month old son. She was buying a small gatorade ( a lot of HFCS in that crap ), and a small bottle of water, and she asked for a lottery scratch off ticket, whatever those are called. ( i’ve bought six of them in my lifetime, the sixth one resulted in $100 payout, so i quit playing while I was ahead )

Anyways, she’s got her gatorade, water, scratcher thing. The cashier gives her the total somewhere under $4. She hands him an American Express card, he runs the card. Declined. She says ok i’ll be right back, and grabs the kid and leaves. Apoo and I make our exchange for the water and I hit the door to get to work, and air conditioning, as i’m walking across the parking lot, I see our friend from inside the door digging under her floor mats in her car counting change. GEEZUS!

If you can’t put $4 on you AMEX you need to stop and think about what that means, not go digging under your floor mats.

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  1. someone who once knew you
    July 21st, 2006 at 13:25 | #1

    Apoo and I make our exchange

    Oh, Joel, what have you become? I feel depressed enough already at the state of the world- it’s even worse reading this nastily dismissive term for the cashier. Couldn’t you have just said “the cashier and I” or “the Indian cashier and I”? Why the Apoo?

    Then again, perhaps I’m reading too much into this.

    Sigh…

  2. joelhainley
    July 21st, 2006 at 14:44 | #2

    Yes, you’re reading too much into this. Apoo is a character from the simpsons.

    Who is this?

  3. someone who once knew you
    July 21st, 2006 at 15:14 | #3

    I’d rather not give my real name out in public. We used to go to school together. I think I may have seen you months ago on Leland. Someone in a truck was looking back at me and smiling. Like an idiot, I didn’t respond, and it wasn’t until I was home that I realized it may have been you. If it was you, I’m terribly sorry for my unintentional rudeness.

    Good to talk to you again, even if it’s only symbols on a computer screen.

  4. someone else who once knew you
    July 26th, 2006 at 20:45 | #4

    Actually, its Apu.

    And it would probably be as insulting as referring to a white boy as “frosty,” “caspers,” or “crackers.”

    Actually, those are quite funny.

  5. joelhainley
    July 26th, 2006 at 23:18 | #5

    I’ve always been partial to “peckerwood” myself.

    However, those could probably all be construed as name calling.

    I wasn’t name calling. It wasn’t a derogatory comment. In fact the truth of the matter is that the guy that was working in the liquor store was a “honkey” ;-) . However, ever since the simpsons it has seemed strangely appropriate to refer to the workers in quickie-marts/liquor stores as Apu ( i stand corrected on that spelling ).

    Besides, it’s kinda fun to have your story populated with fictional characters. We all know i’ve been accused of being fictional ;-) .

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