Boxing Day

 


At the Giant Eagle in Boardman, Ohio the day after Christmas. Boxing Day.

It’s early morning, about 7am.

A woman in her early 60’s is stocking shelves in the dairy section.

A man about the same age pushes a cart stacked with empty corrugated boxes slowly down the aisle. 

Man: “Morning.”

Woman: “Morning.”

Man: “How was your Christmas?”

Woman: “Good. How was yours?”

Man: “Good. Anything come in last night?”

Woman: “There’s two pallets in the back. I think they’re overstocks.”

Man: “Alight. I’ll take a look.”

Woman: “We’ll see how it goes today.”

Man: “Yep”

Woman: Have a good one.”

Man: “You too.”

The man continues to push the cart with a slow limp. His right foot kicks out to the side as he takes his careful steps. 

Even though the mills closed in 1977, the working life still leaves its mark on people.  

I continued to look for what I was there for. A small carton of cream in the grand scheme all of a sudden seemed trivial and meaningless. 

An end cap displays boxes of candy canes for 50% off. 

There are twelve per box.


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