10/12/05 by oldestgenxer

I live in a . . . .quasi-suburban area. We are in what used to be the middle of the country, but with the metropolitan expansion it has become the rural edge of the area. We have a Super-Duper Walmart, which makes everything better. More on that another time. Me and my seventeen year old son made our daily trip up to Wally-World one day, and there was someone having a fund-raiser BBQ outside. We decided to get some after we were done in the store.
So as we are checking out the BBQ, I noticed several things about the whole setup which aggravated me. I was once again a helpless pawn. We are standing in line behind one person, and she is BLOCKING the one and only little sign with small print containing vague references to what they have and alluding to the possibility of prices. It is a very casual setup, like they had had the idea for a fundraiser earlier that morning while they themselves had been in line at Wally's Supermarket o' Fun. So the woman in front of us orders all of these small items, hotdogs and brats and burgers, and they pile them on one big plate to cover with foil. She asks the lady getting the food, "How much is that?"
She answers, "Well, you have ten things here, and they are all $1.50 each."
"Right." The other woman responds. "What's a dollar fifty times ten?"
The lady holding the meat looks around, says, "We don't have a calculator."
At this point I look at my son, and see the disdain for idiots boiling inside him. He has little to no tolerance for stupidity. I can't wait for him to get his first job in foodservice. I silently signal him to remain an observer.
The customer says, "Oh. Wait." She deftly starts counting to ten on her fingers as she says, "Dollar fifty, three, four fifty, five--no wait, six, seven fifty--"
After a painfully long time later, she finally arrived at the correct answer, where we had been sitting, agonizingly, waiting for her. I guess it's a good thing she had all of her fingers.
My son said to me, "I feel sad." The lady looked at him quizzically, then turned and got her food and left. I surmised it to be the expression she probably goes through life with.
But I know what he meant. "For humanity?"