A Tale of Two Hams.

I rarely visit Winn Dixie but I needed some parsley for Mrs. King and I didn’t want to arrive home empty-handed for a third day in a row. I tend to be absent-minded. I normally stop by Terranova’s, which has an excellent parsley selection for a mom-and-pop grocery shop, but I don’t always have parsley on my mind. I was thinking about parsley now and I happened to be passing Winn Dixie.

In New Orleans, the best advice you will get is to dance like nobody is watching. It is good advice. I was strolling through the Winn Dixie parking lot, reminiscing about a lady I used to be familiar with who’s name is Parsley. That Parsley is a story for another day.

Memories!

What follows is what else that happened today. You should have been there.

I was in the Winn Dixie on North Carrolton Avenue, not the one on Tchoupitoulas Street. What a beautiful day! Winn Dixie is a supermarket chain out of somewhere in Florida, of all places. The chain is a subsidiary of Southeastern Grocers.

Southeastern Grocers used to be called Bi-Lo Holdings. Not a great name but good advice. “Buy low. Sell high.” Words to live by. You can quote me.

Rachel is a cashier at Winn Dixie. I think she is the greatest supermarket cashier I have ever had the pleasure to watch in action. This is actually something I know something about. Rachel mans the register like a master. She is always a pleasure to talk with. If a supermarket cashier can be poetry in motion, I have seen it in the flesh.

I like Rachel. Happiness loves company.

I got to spend seven minutes of happiness with Rachel today. I am smiling as I tell you about it.

I do not know how to use the self-checkout. I have never bothered to learn. There is no one to talk with. I met Rachel because, one day, she had the shortest line. The line was short because Rachel is as efficient as she is pleasant—New Orleans serendipity.

So, Rachel was working and I brought my two bunches of parsley to her line. The lady in front of me had nothing more than four hams on the belt.