A Supermarket Checkout Lady Wins the State Lottery

Martha Sweenie is a 46-year-old woman who has a penchant for being miserable. She inhabits the cash register nearest the exit door at a Kansas City grocer called Pick-N-Go. She’s best known for being the tallest in the room. Her clothes are bland and loose fitting. Her shoes are not big enough for her feet. Her hygiene is impeccable, and her nails meet the dollar bills handed to her from strangers in the cleanest way possible. Her hair is cut short and hangs tight to her face, creating a juxtaposition to the bags under her eyes. She does not want to be here.

The light fixtures in Pick-n-go are cold and the store is veiled in white. Each customer is painted in the brightest shade of their flesh. It’s a slow and rainy Monday, and Martha watches one customer who seems displaced. She watches a young woman pushing a monochromatic cart down the canned goods aisle. She is on her phone and laughing. She is young and beautiful. Through looking at the young and the beautiful, Martha meets the old and the misfortunate in her mind. She does not want to be here.

The young woman has three counters to checkout at, but she chooses the furthest counter, which happens to be Martha’s. It’s out of the way. It’s the route less traveled, but the young woman has made her mind up. Upon reaching Martha’s counter, the young woman proceeds to laugh and talk on the phone, while depositing her groceries. Martha stares unashamedly at her, noticing the flawless idiosyncrasies. The woman puts her phone away and begins speaking to Martha, but Martha’s vision blurs and focuses on the horizon. She sees the shrine of soda boxes in the distance, and wonders who the hell would take the time to make a pyramid of soda cans.

“Excuse me miss,” the young woman says, a commanding tone in her voice.

Catapulted back to reality, Martha stares wide eyed at the woman, “Yes…Yes what is it?”

The young woman who held a look of annoyance seconds ago now smiles, “I’ve forgotten just one thing, would you mind if I went and grabbed it?”

“By all means,” Martha says, her voice shaking.

The young woman pivots and scurries away. Martha parts the strands of white hanging over her sullen eyes and sees a green leather wallet on the counter. Protruding out of it is a lottery ticket. She picks her head up and observes the soda pyramid in the distance. Who the hell would take the time? Martha looks back at the lottery ticket, extends her wavering hand and slips the ticket into her deflated pocket. The young woman returns with a bottle of champagne.

“Can I see some ID, please?” Martha says, smiling.