Image by Yesterday, I went to my favorite Walmart on Route 1 in North Brunswick township and bought my favorite veggie griller, lettuce, cucumber, tofu, juices etc. At the checkout, I waited in line for more than half an hour, which is normal for this particular store. About six months ago, the store installed numerous auto checkouts, which only accept cards. There are only two places for cash checkout and the lines are very long.
I could have used my card, but several years ago, I discovered that I spent twice amount of money by using cards. Whenever I pay by cash, I spent less. There must be a psychological explanation for this, but I don’t know what it is. Holding cash makes you feel that you have already spent a lot while holding a card doesn’t give you the same kind of sensation.
Anyway, for six months I have been complaining of the long cash line every week, not knowing how to deal with it other than just waiting in line. Then yesterday, I struck a conversation with the girl standing behind me. She also has an accent and she is an immigrant too. Her brown skin is very much like mine. Her husband, who’s very handsome by the way, queued up in the other cash line, leaving her to stand behind me. The girl is very pretty, with beautiful hairdo and large expressive eyes. Most immigrant women don’t spend money on their hair–everything goes to the mortgages–but this girl does. I like her attitude of loving beauty more than mortgages, which I admire but don’t have the courage to emulate.
We complained about the long cash line together for a while.
“Look, there’s nobody in the auto checkout. No line at all. It is so… well… I don’t like to use card, you know.” She said.
“Oh, wait a second. We can get card too, right? Like a Walmart gift card. How come I didn’t think of it before? You must have inspired me. I wish I talked with you sooner. I mean with a Walmart gift card, we can use the auto checkout.” I said.
She laughed.
Talking to people can really connect one’s brain cells in a different way. I didn’t come up with this simple idea for six months. I thought there was no solution but to wait in line and curse Walmart’s stinginess.
“Sorry, I have to go since my husband’s waving to me.” She said apologetically and left.
What a beautiful couple. However with such a handsome husband, she has to doll herself up every day. In this aspect, a plain husband is probably better.
“What are you talking about?” My friend L disagreed over social media. “A plain husband may also want his wife to doll up every day.”
Haoyan Do 
Plain or handsome – they all want their wives pretty. 🙂
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Haha, I think so too. A wife’s appearance is a status symbol. LOL. Tragic and superficial. But this is how the world works.
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I don’t think men and women have very different beauty standards. Women are expected to doll up and look perfect whereas men can be attractive with their flaws on display. Older men are called “silver fox” whereas older women are considered ugly and past their prime. Men expect their wives to look a certain way even when they are not particularly good looking themselves.
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Haha, I totally agree. In some cultures, men are not expected to be handsome while women are jeered for not being pretty.
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It’s like that in most cultures I think. Like I always see these gorgeous women with not so handsome men lol.
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Oh, so true. And women are so desperate to get into a situation that’s not really working for them. It is so heartbreaking to just watch that.
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So many women deserve so much better. It’s sad when they settle.
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It is still a question of experiences, which is more important for women than men since women have more hurdles in life than men. This is why a woman should experience as much as she can, but sadly often a woman is not allowed to experience life very much…
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Very true, women need these experiences than men and yet they often have very few experiences in life due to how controlled their lives are.
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Yes, girls are often tightly controlled in many aspects of their life and the world is often not a safe place for women to explore. In a community where most of women don’t explore, it will be difficult for the few brave women to explore since they become too conspicuous uncommon.
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True, it’s difficult and dangerous for women who want to explore. Or even live differently than the norms.
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I love it when random little conversations turn out to have so much value in terms of good ideas! ❤
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Oh, yes. Conversations can stimulate us in unexpected ways. Aimless chats are especially stimulating. LOL.
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It’s interesting how talking to someone gives you a different perspective and turns on a lightbulb sometimes.
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Yes, talking to others really do wonders sometimes for our brain. I was so dumb for six months, not knowing how to deal with the long line every weekend. If I just talked with somebody earlier, it could have been solved already, but I didn’t.
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I hear there is a psychological phenomena that when one writes or talks to someone a connection somehow gets made. I wonder how that goes.
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Yes, I feel that way too. Often an idea will come to one’s mind when one’s communicating with others. I mean I haven’t come up with this simple idea for six months. For six months, I suffer alone and in silence. LOL.
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A great observation re the importance of connection 😊
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Thank you so much.
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