Slow Lane in the Grocery Store
Only one cash register of six is open
At the local grocery store.
Most of the customers use the self-check.
They say it’s quicker as if this was my goal.
 I prefer the slow lane
Where the checker Maria chats with each of us.
She retired from forty years of checking.
I miss her 
Her replacement is older,
Less friendly and billed me 
For three cucumbers that were zucchinis.
Still, I stay in the slow lane
Bagging my veggies to move the line along. 
It’s the least I can do.

I look forward to your comments and questions. Find me at http://www.abberolnick.com . My new novel, The Underpainting, will be available in November.