#StoriesFromTheStoreFront - Episode #2

"Plates and Bowls and Corelle - Oh My!"

I'm getting slap-happy. It's been a long day. I spoke with a woman for 40 minutes today - well, I say I spoke with her, but mostly she sat there talking to herself about, "Would *this* one work for Mom and Dad, or *that* one? Um...OOH! THAT one might work well because it comes with THAT." Mind you, I have no idea what she's looking at.
 
She decides she'll have 3 plates, two bowls, and the 2 qt. mixing bowl - "oh, wait, is it breakable? It's Corelle. Can my elderly parents break it?" and she starts watching a video of a guy who promises to knock his Corelle something-or-other off a counter so you can see if it breaks. I can hear the video nattering away, and she is saying, "oh man, he just won't DO it. He keeps TALKING about it, but he won't knock it off the table."
 
Wait, she'll have the THREE-qt. mixing bowl...AND the 2 qt. mixing bowl. But wait a second..."maybe I should get that instead?"
 
Oh dear Jesus save me.
 
These bowls and things costs under $11 and under; mostly $4. This is not exactly an earth-shaking decision, especially for someone who has the time in the middle of a Monday to sit there wasting her time and mine...but I digress.

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After 40 minutes she tells me she'll "think about it", doesn't want to make a decision right now, feels "nervous" about doing this, and she'll "call back".
 
Oh, please don't be routed back to me.
 
So when I get Mary on the phone (not her real name), I'm ready for a drink. Her unmistakable warmth and humor are such a freaking relief. I locate the item she is looking for and she tells me she is sending it to her cousin. It's a burch serving plate - very cool - and she tells me that there is something about the word "burch" that relates to family history. She and her cousin keep punking each other by sending one another burch-related items, so this is her donation to the punking for this year.
 
Mary asks me, "I'm sending this to my cousin in Minnesota. Where are *you* located?"
 
I tell her, "Ohio."
 
She is so excited: "OH! PERfect!!!" and I start to laugh because yes, Minnesota IS in fact right next to Ohio, and I can just walk that gift over for her...right?
 
When I start to laugh, she starts to laugh, and I know I don't even have to backpedal or softsoap it. She says, "Yeah, well, you're closer than I am, being out here in California."
 
She tells me more stories about her family, and I am struck by how many stories, how many people I get to know who I would never otherwise meet in a million years. And how sacred that is to me, to be about to touch and be touched by so many souls.
 
Even those who drive me up the wall. Little do they know, they're fodder for a book, or a play. So how can I complain?
 
Oh...easily.