A Girl In Aldi Grocery Store

I saw her again yesterday,
the Asian girl in her dark Aldi shirt,
her pretty round face with a perpetual frown,
her aversion thinly veiled behind tepid greetings,
her young limbs tired of the grocery routine.
Her colleagues are more resigned and even good humored,
but she is bitter.
Her bitterness is conspicuous, 
but it's a sort of bitterness that will 
incur sympathy rather than antipathy from others.
She looks like a college student,
who's eager to make some money but
can't find a better job.
All the restaurants are in trouble now--no wonder
she has no choice but to be a cashier in Aldi.
I imagined she comes from a conservative Asian family,
with inevitable nagging parents, strict educational goal, 
well trained habit in discipline and self sacrificing,
and all the rest of the stereotypical background. 
My imagination is so unimaginative.
She looks like an American born Asian, though I am not sure.
Some people tell me they can tell the difference--
Asians from Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, or America--
but I can't see the difference.
Being myopic and unwilling to wear glasses unless driving, 
I can't see the differences that are obvious to others.
I wish she could be happier;
I wish she could just curse and yell to release some steam.
 

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