THE CASHIER
A certain cashier on aisle four was suddenly distracted
By footsteps coming toward him. His customer then acted.
“Before you check my items, sir,” the customer declared,
“I’d like to point out something you’ll be grateful that I shared.
I’ve seen you once before, sir, I can’t remember when,
But for a wacky reason, I am glad to see you again.”
“What’s that you say?” the cashier said. “You’ve seen me once before?
Well, I’ll bet a measly cent that it was here on aisle four.”
“It wasn’t, sir,” the other said. “I hope you know just why
I have this notion in my head. Were you a passer-by?”
“That’s probably the truth,” then said the man who was cashier,
“How sure are you, oh customer, that it just wasn’t here?”
“I’m very sure,” came the reply. “And to a high degree,
If you start thinking high enough, you will remember me.”
The second customer in line, a fireman was he,
But he was off his job, and he didn’t want to be,
Behind a place where just maybe he’d never leave the store,
And for one entire morning he’d be stuck in aisle four.
“Hey, hurry up!” he cried out. “You’ve got to say you know
Of where you’ve seen this man before. I’ve really got to go.”
“I guess we’ll have to let him,” the cashier simply said,
“You may have seen my face before, but he’ll go in your stead.”
The first in line felt hopeless. “What is your identity?”
“Are you a thief?” the cashier said. “I really need to see.”
“I’m not a thief!” the customer said. “I will not go to court!
I know I have seen you before. To each other we must report!”
“But I’m not certain even if
I saw you recently,”
The cashier said with doubt as
He presseed a little key.
The fireman’s cart then pushed ahead,
To go to another line.
But all the other aisles were stocked
Full of one bad sign.
The people in the other lines
went straight across the row,
And the fireman could not handle
Waiting long, as we well know.
He took to the express lane
He had items of only eight,
The Fireman had avoided
His long and tiring wait.
But the cashier and the customer
Began to speak again,
“I still don’t know,” the customer said,
“Just where I’ve seen you in.”
“I know it’s true, just what you say,
The sighting you recall,”
The cashier said. “But in this time,
I really cannot remember you at all.
“But nevertheless, we stay in touch,”
The cashier then replied,
And gave the customer his number,
If he may wish to confide.
They continued to find it hard to see,
When they had been before,
That one time when they’d seen each other,
Preceding aisle four.
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