Joseph

A gentle man by the name of Joseph has been frequenting my store lately.  He's a small man, a bit hunched over so it's hard to tell how tall he really is.  Thin, but not frail.  Long salt and pepper hair, long scraggly beard.  His clothes are not clean and hang very loosely around his thin frame.  I can't say for sure how old he is, maybe late 40's - 50's. 

He's had a hard life.

Joseph has a hard time looking at me.  His eyes dart back and forth constantly.  The teeth that he has are brown.

A combination of sweat, tobacco and urine makes me wonder if he's homeless. 

He  told me he lives in Howell, which is about 20 miles from my store.  He takes a taxi into town. 

Joseph wanders around downtown and shops.  3 or 4 canvas shopping bags are usually filled with little trinkets that he buys. 

He examines everything very closely.  There is careful thought in what he buys. 

As he wanders around the store he brings little items up to the counter and asks me: "Can you hold this for me please?" for each item that he wants.

I make a little pile.

"Can you please take the price tags off for me?"

That is important to him too for some reason. 

One of his purchases was a charm bracelet so I asked him if it was a present for a friend?  He just shook his head, "No, no it's for me." 

Today he came in and asked me the price for an African cloth I had in the window.  It was a bit on the pricey side, but I told him the price and he said never mind.  Then he wandered around murmuring..."It's OK...I'm just looking now." for about 10 minutes. 

He was bothered by the price you could tell.

There was a little magnet he found and brought it up to the counter.  "Can you hold this for me please?" 

"How much was that cloth again?"

I gave him the price...he shook his head.  I tried to redirect him to something else.  A little area rug made from recycled t-shirts. 

"Can you get that cloth for me please?  I really want it."

"Are you sure Joseph?  It's kind of expensive." 

"But it's so beautiful...I want it."  His response was almost a cry...not like a whiny child, but of someone desperate for something beautiful in his life.

I got the cloth out of the front window for him and he delicately examined it. 

I wrapped the cloth in tissue and he carefully added it to one of his bags. 

You cannot see expressions on Joseph's face. Or at least I can't see them. His face twitches quite a bit. He grimaces a lot but it seems to be a reflex or habit that he's developed.


It's very humid and hot out today...so I gave him a small bottle of water that he gulped down quickly. 

"Ok...thank you.  See you again." he said softly as he walked out the door.

Thank you Joseph.

Why...

would there be a tip jar in a self serve frozen yogurt store?

Snippets

90% of my clientele are women between the ages of 35 and 55. 

The men that come in to the store are either there because their wives/girlfriends dragged them shopping, they are buying a gift for their wives/girlfriends/Moms or they just think the store is cool and they like to see what new stuff I get in. 

Occasionally I get the guy who shops. 

I don't have a lot of "guy" stuff in the store.  Men are hard to shop for!  I do however have a lot of  genderless gifts.  Oil lamps, garden stakes, fish things (in a shore town it's all about the fish), wooden sculptures, Fair Trade Coffee and chocolate...etc. 

A gentleman came in today about 15 minutes before I closed up the shop.  He's been in before.  Quiet kind of shy.  Most of the time he looks around silently, picks up the occasional item and then just walks out.

I said "Hello!" as I try to do with every customer, but I was preoccupied with the new art work that was being dropped off so I was a bit distracted.  

I think it gave him time to cruise around the store and check things out without feeling like I was watching him.

He bought an oil lamp, asked about a "cool cigar ashtray" and was interested in a Buddah necklace.  "Could a guy where that?"  he asked me. 

"Sure, I've actually sold this to a few guys already.  It's either that, or the shrunken head or the Tiki necklace they go for."

He looked at one of the shrunken heads - but was zoned in on the Buddah and decided to go for it.

The pendant is actually a domino that is painted on one side and hangs from a dogtag type of chain.  It was a little too long, so I cut it down for him.  He tried to put it on himself but was having a hard time so I offered to help him. 

I jokingly said, "see, now you can ask your wife to help you with your necklace!" 

"Oh, she won't touch me."  He remarked very calmly.  "Not anymore anyway."

I didn't really know what to say...so I said nothing.  I went back behind the counter and wrote up his ticket.

"We've been married for 9-10 years, known each other since forever so it really doesn't matter any more." 

Me...silent.  It's always best to keep quiet in this kind of situation. 

"Basically we got married because we had a kid and I guess it's what society wants right? To see a Mom and Dad together with the kids and not split up." 

"Wow" I thought...just keep your mouth shut Sharon.

"Anyway, it works.  So...hey thanks and I'll be back again."  I think he realized he said too much and kind of hurried out the door. 

"Have a Happy 4th"  I yelled, "See ya next time!" 

"Oh yeah...you too." he answered.

I hope he's happy in his life.