Shifting Ground Below

Reconfigurations, recalculations, and persistence not only create but enlighten the world around us. Trepidation awaits every step…some things, are, shall we say, easy! Each step is taken carefully, with thought and anticipation while looking at the horizon of things to come. It is an unknown because even in those simple steps, the unexpected sometimes emerge from the ground below. And we are all simply, “knocked off our feet”.

Standing at the K-Market, 8 hours a day…sunrise to sunset, I have witnessed it all. The worn faces, the world weary, the idealistic youth, professional go-getters, even the rich and famous, they all come through the doors. It all stands 2 inches below my raised platform of control. Customers talk to me like an old friend, their best bud…30 seconds is what I get with them. The informal, the “Hi! How are you doing today?”…my response…always honest, always sincere, always…totally irrelevant. They smile, they nod and when the register drawer slides shut…they pack their cigarettes, turn to the door, and ignore their 30 seconds of before.

I am a momentary friend…to some, others have evolved into more. That damn store…it has become the seed that is opening future doors. The Ivy League educated, future executive has become no more than a clerk at the neighborhood store. Minimum wage prevails well below the prevailing wages of the past…the basics of life cause grey hairs tonight. Yet with each passing day, I see an end in sight.

It is out there, so I’m standing pat. Harry, Adam, Melanie…they walk in and out…Fred, David, and Josh. Bob, Alex, Kelly…buying their beer and smokes…Travis, Heather, Karen. They are all just there…it is a small sanctuary from their daily chores. To me it is hell…through those damn doors. But it is peace to them and hope is given in their sin.

The monotony of those daily conversations…it is numbing to the soul. One day, I’ll be out of those damn doors! And the future will unfold…as the ground shifts below.