beautiful . solitude

It's been a while since we've worked side-by-side, so when Mr. C asked which register I wanted to take, I chose the one next to him (it was also partially because I wanted to avoid the responsibility of having to returns on that other machine).  Business was steady, for the most part, but not overwhelming, so I was free to work on my other assigned tasks instead of having to hang out up front.  But then the ladies with the manic kids who wouldnt shut the hell up came to check-out with quite a number of items in their cart.  Like "old times," he came to help my bag the merchandise.  While I was only on item 3, he said:

"Let me do this (check the items) because I do this lightning fast.  You can bag instead." 

And he proceded to take over my register while I clumsily moved aside.  I was a little embarrassed to be thought of as slow, but then again, he didnt seem to be doing it all that quickly, either.  After we finished the handling the customers and had them sent out the door, I asked "so how was THAT lightning fast?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. 

Ah, back track.  So I had originally helped these customers with the stroller because one of the two would not stop crying and yelling at the top of his lungs.  The kids were okay for a while until the mother decided that she would not be purchasing the pair of batman slippers, which had been with the hands of one of the kids, for him, after all.  So he started to cry.  Again.  Actually I couldnt tell the two apart, so it could have been the other one.  Anyway, after experiencing such a high noise level at a very close distance, he decided to offer this toy car (which he had been playing with all morning) to this kid.  The kid calmed down immediately.

"Just make sure that he doesnt put it into his mouth," he warned the mother, who agreed to comply.  I thought he had mention it for normal procedures, but he ended up telling me:

"Yeah I had spent all morning painting it [with that red marker].  I hope he doesnt lick it and get poisoned and die.  But then I did warn his mom, so it wouldnt be my fault."