Sack-Stretcher

My Most Embarrassing Moment!

The type of store where I worked at 14 is probably no longer in existence.

Customers came in with a list of what they wanted; gave the list to me; and I went to all the store shelves and collected what was on their list.

Then I totaled up what they needed to pay, put the money in the cash register and put all their “groceries” into one or more paper sacks (plastic bags had not yet been invented back when dinosaurs roamed the earth).

“Boots”, the owner, had instructed me to conserve paper sacks and to strategically arrange all the cans, bottles, boxes, etc. in order to use one sack when normally I would use two in order to distribute the weight.

One day I was struggling to get all the items for a customer to fit into one sack and no matter how I arranged the items, they just wouldn’t fit.

Boots saw my dilemma and told me to go to the storage room at the back of the store and get the sack-stretcher.

I hustled back to the storeroom and looked, but did not see anything.

“I don’t see it!” I shouted.

“It is on the top shelf and has a green handle,” Boots replied.

I looked on the shelf, but no device with a green handle.

Then it hit me – you cannot stretch a paper sack!!!

I emerge from the storeroom and all the old men playing dominos are laughing.

P.S. Blind Obedience led me to my most embarrassing moment; when our children ask “Why”, let’s remember this story. Questioning authority can be healthy.