It was covid time winding down. Many were still wearing masks but no longer raiding the supermarket shelves. We’d spent the evening with one of our good friends, Angie, laughing and carrying on as we always did, joking about Covid and life in general.

The next day, George was in our local supermarket, but found he’d left his wallet in his truck just before checking out. He parked his buggy in an aisle, near the cashiers, and headed back out to retrieve his wallet. On his way out, he spotted Angie in one of the check-out lines. He sidled up to her and threw his arm around her. With their masks on, they looked like a couple of bandits! As he hugged her one-armed, he carried on the word play from the previous night, “Hey, Baby! Wanna have a good time?” 

No answer. Just a quiet stare.

He looked at her. She looked at him. With his arm still around her shoulders, he narrowed his eyes. Tentatively, he questioned the brown orbs above the mask, “You aren’t Angie, are you?”

He couldn’t even see the smile as she replied, “No….. but thanks for making my morning.”

Uncategorized covid policies encounters friends strangers