Gabriel has a friend. A friend is a man who works as a cashier at the little grocery store next to their apartment in Paris. The cashier has befriended Gabriel by talking to him whenever he comes in, "Hello Gabriel, how are you today? What do you have? What are you doing? Where is Mom? Is this your grandmother?" He encourages him to talk with a question. Of course, at first, Gabriel was shy. Still, over time, he’s become buddies, and now when he goes into the grocery store, he runs to the cashier man going into his stall; with a giggle, he knows he has a friend ready to engage with him, and whatever the cashier man is doing, he stops happily talks to Gabriel, "Hey, buddy, what’s new? What do you have you been doing today? How is your sister? How was school today? Whoever is waiting at the checkout counter stands anxiously and waits, but that does not bother Gabriel and the Cashier. Those who live in the neighborhood expect it; it is their grocery store. It is more than a grocery store; it is a meeting place.
At the market in Cassis, two women sell their vegetables directly. The vegetables are fresh, beautiful, in abundant often; I’ve asked for recipes, as many locals do, and their recipes have a traditional Provencal flair. They have gladly shared them with me. I enjoy cooking and hearing different tricks and flavors about it. I wondered how they made their traditional PISTOU soup; each person has a slightly different take. Graciously, she shared her recipe as if we were sitting and having a coffee at a café; "I do not put tomato in mine; I use potato instead of pasta; make your pesto, and add the rind of the Parmesan to the vegetables as they simmer, it adds flavor…" the people in line becoming agitated, most of them tourists, forgetting to slow down, wanting to buy and go, the other locals were listening and adding their two cents to the recipe, as I expected they would. One of the tourists huffed, "Please, hurry up. This is taking too long. Can you do this later?" In which the vendor turned to her with a rebuttal, "Look, this is a community. I’m not here only to sell my homegrown vegetables but to be part of the community. We talk, we share recipes, we laugh, we ask about each other’s children; if you want something fast, there’s a grocery store around the corner, go there, buy your food, but if you want to have a conversation, if you want to buy from my stand, you might have to wait a while."
Gabriel skips happily to the grocery store in the big city, and the cashier bends down to greet him and personally treats Gabriel as if they’re best buddies; they are, creating community. The other day Gabriel took him a drawing, one of his unique drawings of suns and flowers. The cashier was so touched. He talked to Gabriel for at least five minutes. They spoke of the details, the colors in his drawing, and the kindness of sharing.
Life as it should be, community-oriented, kind, and sharing of time.
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