Grocery Elf

I met the strangest little man yesterday at the grocery store. He was my checker. Friendly enough, kind of small-ish, gave a sprite-like vibe.

I gave him the mesh bags to use and he set one up in the cart. "Watch This!" he announces. "I've learned a trick"

He set the mesh bag in the cart and then takes a paper bag and inserts it into the mesh bags. "This makes it easier!" he proclaims. While I'm mentally thinking "Well, that kind of undoes the purpose of the bags..." he mentions "And you can just leave them in there!" Oh, well, okay then.

So he merrily checks my groceries. Complete with dropping some of the grapes on the ground. He picks them up, brushes them off gently and says "It's okay, they're not quite wine yet." By now I'm begging silently to be home.

He finishes up and while doing so, calls out hello to another customer. As I am gathering my receipt, he leans toward me conspiratorially and whispers "See that guy back there? I know him, he's a regular."

So, I brush my hair out of my eyes, in the guise of being to look at that guy. He seems perfectly normal.

"I couldn't remember his name" the sprite continues "and I had to figure out a way to remember it. Know how I did it?" I shook my head, he had my attention now.

"His name is Howard. Howard the Duck!" And he smiles triumphantly.

"Oh, that's a great idea!" I smile and walk away.

The sprite merrily continued to the next customer. The strangest people get dropped in my path lately.