2020-04-18 - Customer Crowd Control - Paul, Pixie, Owen

It was a Saturday morning and despite Covid-19 and the guidelines put out by Mayor Adum Brate and Dr. Susan McKinney, Thrifty's Foods was battling a rush of people. Paul McLoed, the owner was standing at the locked door, letting people in by head count as another patron left. He had a mask and gloves on but his smiling eyes greeted the regulars and he tried to be jovial.

“Mr. Arnette, please wait a moment, we’re full still….ok stand back and let these folks out…..Have a good day…..here we go come on in. Use the wipes to sanitize a cart or basket.Follow the arrows…..Keep two meters apart…..”

Someone nearby chimed “Speaking moistly…” and Paul laughed “No we don’t do that here Tina…..” He eyed the cash desks and head juts at Owen as he walks by “Owen, can you go bag for Pixie? Her line is getting a little long and they’re not spacing well…” Pauls calls out to the customers in line “Use the middle aisle until you’re called to the till please...step back!!”

Paul turns and points menacingly as someone knocks on the locked glass door “YOU WILL NEED TO WAIT.”

Owen smiles awkwardly and scoots to Pixie’s register, stationing himself at the end after he walks past her“Hello…” He greets. He leans sideways and makes sure he has a nice big stack of both paper and reusable bags as he braces himself. He has on a very plain proper white mask and latex gloves.

You ready for the horde.. lock and load baby face " she says to Owen her own smiley baby blue eyes look mock serious as she ready for the onslaught. Her own mask is one she made herself. it's a simple resident  evil with the umbrella corporation  logo where her mouth would be. She is at the till ready  as a burley man impatiently walks up. "Get a move on.. the man says "hey grumpy.. I mean sir… she says in a plain tone."going  as fast as my hands can go..

The man just huffs



Owen frowns at the man and then clears his throat to cover a snicker at Pixie before asking formally “Paper or reusable Sir? You can wash the reusable ones……”

Paul unlocks the door again, letting in an irritated looking woman in heels followed by a very apologetic older man “Thank you...thank you…” The woman rounds on Paul “Did you get any yeast in yet?”

Paul shrugs and throws up his hands “Suppliers got none. People are baking sourdough though...soda bread?” He offers. The woman spins on her heel and walks away. Paul rolls his eyes and goes back to the door.



Pixie just rolls her eyes as the man just stares at Owen. "I'm not warshing nothing" the man says softly. Pixie just stifles a laugh and mumbled in an apparent snape like impression  "obviously.." She just rings up his order barely able to keep her control.

The man is slow on the uptake

She makes eye contact  with Owen just as she overhears the lady give her boss trouble. She looks at owen with can you believe  these people look.

She waves energetically  at the older man as he's one of the more polite  consumers.

The man that has a name tag on his

powerplant uniform that says Boon just shakes his head slams the cash down on the counter as he waits for Owen to bag up his beer and groceries.

Owen bags in paper and the crinkling at the sides of his eyes indicate he’s smirking at Pixie’s little Snape moment. He does his duty quietly but is somewhat less than gentle with the surly man’s egg carton and piles a few cans on top of it for good measure.

Paul is all eyes and ears right now and sees the cash slammed down and intercedes “Sir we’re not taking cash right now to protect our workers…..do you have a card? We can even do a cheque with proper ID?”

Owen gulps at Paul and then darts a sidelong look at Pixie. This should be good. He gave Boon a little nod too, knowing pretty much all the power plant folks through his dad. Boon wasn’t his favourite though.


Boon just stares at Pixie like he's undressing her with his eyes  then snaps his head up at Paul the looks at Owen as he fishes a card a out of his wallet swiping it. Not looking too happy as he shoves his cash in his pockets.

Pixie just looks at Owen approving at the egg crushing  but then looks disgusted and exchanges a look at Owen and shakes her head as he swipes the card. She ripps off the reciept and mumbles to boon in momotone "have an magical day " that sounded  like a go fuck yourself in tone.


Paul gives an encouraging look to Pixie and stays close. He hated customers who didn’t treat his staff right, especially now.  He hovered to the side, watching the line behind and the door and collected the shopping baskets as the transaction finished.

Owen gave Pixie one eyebrow wiggle and slid the paper bags to Boon. The next customer in line was thankfully Judith Baldwin.

was all smiles as she approached, respecting the distance of the till and staff “Hi there, thanks so much for all you do!” She peered past Pixie at Owen “Is that Owen under there? Hello Dear.”

Owen gave her a big wave “Hi Mrs Baldwin.” He gave a little wince after. Owen had been fighting a headache all morning after the night before.

Judith went on “I hear people are looking for yeast. I should post some of my switcharoos for cooking on the community social media. Crazy times…” She beamed at the cashier who’s name she didn’t remember “That’s an interesting mask now. Do you sew?”


 Pixie just gives Owen a flirty wink showcasing her immaculate rainbow shadow on her left eyelid that is framed  by her bright pink eyebrow. she notices the wince looking concern but would pry in front  of a customer

She smiles as Paul gets close, loving  how protective he was.."you keep that up boss and i might not go back to Boo Boutique after this is over.." her kind and sparkling  baby blues convey her gratitude. she turns as judith speaks listening  as she nods " you know what madam that be bomb.  I love new inventive recipes.. ! Her eyes light up as she mentions  her mask.. " yes madam i read about  the shortage  in ppe so i started  making my own so our supermen and wonder women in scrubs  can have the  real deal. . She smiles , her mask moving a bit,  her smile stretching underneath  it.."tell you what if you want i can make you trade masks for some bread . "She say then steals a glance  at owen  then back to Judith


Judith is delighted with the young woman “So true. So true.Oooh I’d love some Wonder Woman masks for my little granddaughters. They’re little though...well not so little. How do they grow so fast. Six and nine and so clever. I will absolutely bring you bread.” She marvels at the young woman’s makeup and wonders how she gets her eyebrows that colour. “My name is Judith by the way. I don’t think I taught you. I’d remember. But I taught Owen and apparently he can cook now…” She teases “Are you still?”

Owen blinks at the wink and clears his throat awkwardly. He was hardly one who got a lot of winks. He looks awkwardly at Paul who seems to be grinning at him behind his mask now by the door after Boon’s exit. Owen nods at Mrs Baldwin “Yeah I still cook. Haven’t killed anyone yet…..” He squints a bit and then inhales.

Judith shifts over and hands Owen some bags “I washed these. I’m glad you’re still cooking. Are you alright dear? You look a bit under the weather.” She steps back at a respectful distance and gets her card out to tap. Her groceries are all whole foods for home cooking.


Pixie beams it lights up her eyes making  them all doey and she chuckles.
"Id honor to be an edna mod to your sweet little superhero gals.  Just no capes darling.. so last season" she does a perfect impression of Edna .

Pixie half smirks and smiles twisting up her mask making the umbrella logo buckle abit as she sees the cute but hot way Owen squirmed..she loves seeing  men squirm especially  young cute men .

She clears her throat "do you wonderboy??..as you can see i love to eat." She wasn't  overweight but was on the heavier side of what a woman her age and height should carry as far as bmi went. She flirted  with the measurement.. it gave her the appearance of a filled out curvy 5 8 tonks..the pink hair just highlighted  that

She smiles and winks at owen then looks over  to Judith exchanging  an i love this part look motioning to owen and continues

"No i went to school in Anaheim when i was living with my mom but my dad lives here .when i finished  my senior  year  there and my summer internship at the house of mouse came here to visit  my dad before  i started college and like the small town sweetness you all had so…  i sorta stayed .Been here ever since for like 6 years now..  she smiles..


Judith laughs “Oh we love Edna.” Judith doesn’t wear a mask. She’s just wise about distancing. “Disneyworld? How fun. I took my daughter when she was young...so many years ago.” She looks up at Owen again as he carefully bags for her “How are you doing there?”

Owen had looked surprised at the flirting and blushed a bit but then closed his eyes again like he was in some kind of pain. He had heard the whole Disney exchange and the fact that Pixie had been here 6 years. How old was she? He rolled his head back and then squinted at Mrs. Baldwin “It’s just a  headache. I stayed up way too late.” He was definitely not about to admit to his old teacher that he had a hangover.

Judith looked suspicious and then smiled “Well I hope you feel better….sleep tonight…”

Pauls locked the door again and then approached with a  frown. He had been listening and watching too “Owen...can you help me with some pallets at the loading dock before your lunch?” the look on Paul’s face said we have to talk.

Owen gulped “Yes sir….”


Pixie looks at Judith with big happy eyes " Disneyland to be exact  but yeah.  Work there my senior year and the summer after.  She chuckles  . "Mr grump redneck is a doll compared to the jerks i had to endure  while  Mickey  was my boss. She chuckles. "Guess  it's great  for learning how  not to swear at the customer.. "she laughs  softly  "but i loved the kids. Seeing there face so full of wonder kept me sane."

She looks concerned  at Owen  and then looks over to Judith  hands her receipt.

Yeah ease up on the nightime vigilante outing, Robin ..tell the old bats to give you  the night off for your  daytime superhero job..groceries  can't deliver themselves. " she adds in a humorous  but concerned  tone.

Tag))

Judith pockets the receipt and smiles “That’s lovely. I’m going to go home and bake some of that sourdough now. Take care, all of you. We couldn’t do this without you.” She’s completely earnest and takes her bags from Owen with a small smile.

Paul opens the door for her looking humble and touched. Some people really did get it “Thank you Mrs. Baldwin. You have a great day.”

“You too Paul…” She chimed on her way down the sidewalk.

Owen swallowed hard. Something about that got to him. His old teacher, her kindness. He also grunted like he was struggling and looked towards Pixie and then down the line. It wasn’t getting any shorter. “Cards on the table…” He whispered “I’m hungover. Pauls probably thinks I have Covid….”

Paul locked the door and waved forward the next customer, not hearing Owen’s whisper.


Pixie just looks at him " well that a relief ..wouldn't  have to do ya in if you  went all boomer on me all zombieland style.. she jokes.
 She smiles her eye looking understandingly
"It's been  a rough  month.. don't blame ya hun. Your  secret safe with and i wont tell batman you're doing  double duty  mr darkwing"

Only if i can get your autograph  later she jokes  and starts to ring up customers "this is turning out like the queue for space mountain  shesh..

A younger woman about her late 30s with baby formula and diapers "shesh finally  though its less chaotic then my schoolhouse/workplace/home ". She has scrubs like she is picking  stuff up before her shift at the clinic

She smiles at pixie cocking  her head but look amused

Pixie just says "thank you  for your  service"

The lady just waves her hand. Everyone  is doing  their  part.  Just in different  ways.

Owen is that you..gosh you've grown up..

She just  stares at Owen

Pixie just  chuckles as she rings up the lady  "i knew it you're  famous  aren't you boy wonder. "


Owen laughs awkwardly and then starts to rub at hsi temple and stops himself before his hand touches. “Yeah Mary. It happens when they feed us.” He nods at the baby formula and diapers “You guys had another one? Congrats.Or is that for work?” He starts bagging her things in paper out of habit because so many people were asking for it. He answers Pixie “Not famous, just an Alexandran from birth.”

Paul unlocks the door again and sees his mother standing a safe distance from him “Mom, what are you doing here? Is Cheryl ok? What about the kids?”

Joan McLeod just out her hand on her heart “They’re fine. I just wanted to see your face...not on a  screen.”

Paul visibly chokes up “I love you Mom…….go home and be safe please, and take care of my family.”

Joan blows a kiss and waves, walking away in tears and Paul breaks down. Owen jumps out from behind the counter and places a hand on Pauls’ back.
“Social distancing…” Paul protests.”

“Oh fuck that. Go take a break. I’ll do the door.”

Paul turns to Owen and sniffs “Tell me you're not sick. You look like shit kid.”

Owen has to laugh “No I’m a moron. I’m fucking hungover. Go sit down. I got this.”

Paul walks away. The crowd subdues at the emotional scene they just witnessed. Owen looks at Pixie “Are you cool to bag? I can probably double duty if it gets busy. We’re supposed to have a  trainee later but that shift hasn't started yet…”

Owen sees Pixie nod. The customers all looked sympathetic. Owen looked at them appreciatively and beckoned the next person to Pixie’s register. The line outside had gotten shorter too. Reality was raw right now for everyone.