{"id":2592,"date":"2025-11-09T10:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T10:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=2592"},"modified":"2025-11-09T10:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T10:54:14","slug":"everyone-knows-im-waiting-until-7-a-m-to-get-the-alcohol-6-minutes-left-enter-shirley-my-cashier-womans-unexpected-run-in-with-2-walmart-emp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=2592","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Everyone knows I\u2019m waiting until 7 a.m. to get \u2018the alcohol.\u2019 6 minutes left. Enter Shirley, my cashier.\u2019: Woman\u2019s unexpected run-in with 2 Walmart employees leaves her \u2018humbled, choked up\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Waiting In Line<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy new BFF is Shirley, who is a cashier at Walmart. Our new friendship started off slow, you know, exchanging niceties. She was having a nice day, just FYI. And yes, I found everything I needed. It was early in the morning. It was going to be an easy in and out of the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything was running smoothly down the conveyor belt until she came upon my bottle of wine that I needed to get for later in the night. Apparently, they don\u2019t sell alcohol at Walmart until 7:00 a.m. She said I could wait. Afterall, it was only 23 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a pretty large order. It was going to take time. Except, as Shirley pointed out, she\u2019s a fast worker. Always has been. Efficient, too, since she called for a lady to help me out to my car, with 18 minutes left on the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, by now, everybody in line knows I\u2019m waiting until 0700 so I can get \u2018the alcohol.\u2019 And as each bagger walks up, they find out, too, and each nod in agreement, mumble the phrase, \u2018mmmhmmm, she\u2019s waitin\u2019 on the alcohol.\u2019 I just started waving and every now and then and threw in some \u2018hey\u2019s.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14 minutes to go. Shirley is still working hard. Everything is bagged. She offers me a seat since we still have ten minutes, but I\u2019m good. I\u2019ll stand. Oh, and Fridays are \u2018fruit and candy\u2019 days for the employees. I could have a piece of chocolate while I\u2019m waiting. I politely declined. Five times. From five different people. Who are all now huddled around me, waitin\u2019 on the alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re on the countdown. Me, Shirley, three other cashiers, two baggers and Bob, the guy in the electric scooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Mary. She\u2019s the manager of some sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Courtesy of Diana Register<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shirley\u2019s Story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But back to Shirley for a minute. She\u2019s been married for a long time. She can\u2019t remember how long because she can\u2019t remember how old she is. She married her high school sweetheart. She likes him now. But in the beginning, they almost killed each other more than once. But when he was in his 40\u2019s, he had an aortic aneurysm. She called 9-1-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then she put her hand on his heart and prayed for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he survived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s about the time I started crying in line. (on a side note, I need to change my estrogen patch).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then Shirley kept talking, about her life. A beautiful, full, sweet life after a scary time. A life I so desperately wanted after I prayed over my<\/em> own<\/em> husband, hoping he would not die from his cancer. But he did. He did die. And I didn\u2019t understand what Shirley did differently to save hers. But, in that moment, as we were standing there listening to her talk about the love she had for him and her family, my heart swelled. I was genuinely happy for her. I wasn\u2019t jealous. I thought I would be, but I wasn\u2019t. I was so enthralled by what she was telling us, that I couldn\u2019t elicit any other emotion other than pure happiness for this sweet soul standing before me. When somebody is that happy about their life, you can\u2019t help but be happy.  You just can\u2019t. And the others around me felt the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, nobody noticed when it was already five past seven. No \u2013 me, Mary, Michelle, Tina, Stephanie and even Bob in the electric scooter hung onto every word, some with mouths open. Some leaning on the counter. Some smiling. Some nodding their heads. All silent, listening to the stories this woman was telling us. A bunch of strangers brought together by a woman who was pouring out her tragic, wonderful life. That was, until Shirley promptly announced it was time for the alcohol, which incidentally was a phrase immediately echoed over and over by my new friends who were practically high fiving at check-out #8. Time for the alcohol. We made it. All was right in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thanked the beautiful Shirley and told her it was the best experience I\u2019ve ever had at Walmart. Mary asked me to take the survey. I agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then Mary walked me out. She was 13 when she left home. She hitchhiked to Woodstock and then back and forth across the United States seven times. It wasn\u2019t scary. She took a friend with her. Her dad died. She didn\u2019t want to be a burden to her mother, so she just left. And when she came back, she managed to get her high school diploma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We loaded the car, then stood under what was left of the dark early-morning sky, and both shivered slightly from the cold. Her telling me about adventure after adventure and me soaking it in. And then me, feeling guilty that I didn\u2019t even get dressed to make this trip because I had decided there was nothing good about Walmart before I had even pulled up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, on this day, I met two fascinating women. One who knew what fear was. Who in the face of that fear, put her hand on her husband\u2019s heart because she knew that\u2019s where it was supposed to be. And another who, as a child, sacrificed her childhood because in her immature brain, thought it was what she should do for her mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hugged Mary in the parking lot, got in my car, and cried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Humility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m humbled today. A little choked up. I\u2019m checking my judgy self. I\u2019m putting aside my pettiness and refocusing on what\u2019s important. I\u2019m not going to assume things anymore. I\u2019m not going to let the little things get to me. They say life is too short to live in regret. But, you know what, sometimes life is too long. Sometimes, life is too long to spend it focused on the wrong things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sat in my car wiping tears until the sun came up, thankful of the reminder of how amazing life is. And how those two fascinating women were brought into my life exactly when I needed them. I hope you all get a Shirley and a Mary in your life at some point to remind you what\u2019s important and throw you back on your path. Watch for them. You never know when they will come, or who they will be. I sure didn\u2019t expect it, especially not grocery shopping. But on this day, I\u2019m thankful my kids needed to eat. I\u2019m thankful for the stories. I\u2019m thankful for the message of love, unity and hope. I\u2019m thankful for Mary. I\u2019m thankful for Shirley. And above all, I\u2019m thankful that I get to share this with you. Get to living, friends. Get to loving. Take the adventure. Place your hand on somebody\u2019s heart. Just get to it all. I know I\u2019m going to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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