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Oct. 9, 2004 I loath food shopping, loath it with a capital L because it is not something which brings me pleasure (except of course when I actually get to CONSUME my purchases). It is merely a necessary nuisance which we all have to do....unless you're Madonna or Mike Piazza or some other ridiculously high-paid person. But most working drones like us do their own food shopping and, as I said, it is not fun. What makes it more “not fun" is the attitude of the other drones who actually work in the food store. Boy, they must really love to food shop after having been in there all day and helping people who can never find things. “What did you do, move the prunes again? I can never find anything in this store!” Or people who ask the check-out person to put items in fifty separate bags. “Don't put the soap anywhere near the oranges, you're probably the idiot who did it last time and I was sick for a week from eating those damn soapy oranges!” Or those who go to the fifteen items or less check-out counter with forty items. “I’m not moving! Those twenty-five cans of corn count as one item!” Of course I'm not one of those people. Me, I just shop as fast as I can and hope to get out in less than a half hour. Except… when it comes to the fresh fish department; there my whole “get-out-of-the-store-as-fast-as-possible” itinerary breaks down. (I have a similar problem when I have to order in a Chinese restaurant, but that's a story for another column). The fish clerks don't like me. I know it. I do not know a whole lot about fish. It was never a topic I was all that interested in learning. I ate at my maternal Italian grandmother's house on Fridays and she fried fillet of haddock in olive oil with onions every single week. It was good, but outside of that and her traditional Christmas Eve meal of baccala and eel, I know nothing about fish tastes or what is good to buy. To me it would make perfect sense to ask the fish department clerk. “Hey, what do you recommend? Which fish is heart smart? Does that type of fish taste “fish-y?” That last question always gets me in trouble because, either the clerk laughs hysterically, as do several customers on line, or I am given the, “did-she-really-ask –that-stupid-question- raised-eyebrow-look.” To avoid the laughs and the looks, I stopped asking and just always bought salmon. This, I know from the news is heart healthy and actually tastes good and not “fish-y.” You’re safe with salmon. So today on my stop in the fish department I was prepared to get my usual salmon and avoid the eye of the clerk as I do so. However, I am pleasantly surprised. I am not greeted with a rough-voiced "NEXT!" Nope, not today. Someone actually says, “May I help you?” It is a pleasantly accented voice. I look up to see, not the angry faces of the two people who are usually there, but a young man in a sparkling clean white coat and hat with a SMILE. He is smiling at me! “Miss? May I help you, please?” Me? he's talking to me? And offering to help! I smile back. I guess I look kind of look bewildered because he asks me if he can advise me on something for dinner. Wow! That's all he has to ask. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and I begin to ask him all the questions about fish that I ever wanted to know. He is a veritable storehouse of information. I learn more about fish tastes, from where they are delivered, and which ones are the freshest. He tells me he will not sell me something he does not believe is fresh and good tasting, or something that he wouldn't eat himself. I ask him where the two people are who usually take care (ha, ha) of the fish counter. (Seinfeld had his Soup Nazi, I have my Fish Nazis.) He tells me they were transferred to another store (thank you God!!) but he will be happy to serve me. I find out his name is Luis, and from the look of the counters, he takes pride in his work. He confirms this for me by telling me how much he enjoys what he does and how he likes to talk to his customers to make sure he is helping them get the best he can offer. He will not hesitate to send back any fish he feels is not up to his freshness standards. I like him. Especially, after I relay the story of Friday night dinners at my grandmother's house. He nods with understanding, his grandmother in South America used to prepare any fish his fisherman grandfather brought home, in oil with onions, too. I walk away not only with tuna steaks, but with a delicious recipe on how to prepare them. Luis assures me that, if I want, I can call the store, ask for him, and he will tell me about the specials. He will have any orders I request ready for me to pick up. I tell him it is a pleasure to be waited on by some who likes their job and isn't rude to customers. He smiles and gestures at his counters with pride. "I like my work and I like my customers. I'm alive and life is too short to waste in being rude. Niceness costs nothing. What more can a person want?" As I go toward the check-out counter I pass complaining customers and grumpy workers, but I, at last, am smiling. Luis has a great attitude about jobs and life in general. And, bless the man, he didn't laugh or raise his eyebrows in disbelief when I asked him if tuna steaks taste “fish-y.” He was very serious and said no, he never thought they did. Then he smiled and told me to enjoy the rest of my day. With Luis in the store, I guess I can tolerate the odious task of food shopping! ------------ About the author: Besides being a featured columnist for the wonderful Useless-Knowledge.com magazine, Kristen Houghton is the School Reform editor and writer for BellaOnline.com magazine. She is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in Questing Magazine and Images. Her book of short stories is being readied for publication in the very near future. Email: Krisnalan@aol.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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