You scan your own food now. You bag it too. There's nobody there, just a screen with a lady's voice trapped inside it, and she says please place the item in the bagging area, and you do it, fast, like you already know the trick. You do know the trick. You slide the milk so the light turns green.
I watched you the whole time. You didn't smile once. Not when the machine beeped, not when the little coins clinked out into the metal cup. Remember when the coins were treasure? You used to save them in the sock.
There was a real person at the store when I was you. She had a name tag and she gave me a sticker if I was good. You don't get stickers anymore. Do you know that? Did anyone tell you when that stopped?
But then I saw it. When the machine said unexpected item and you pressed the button and got that older man to come fix it, you talked to him. You asked how his shift was going. You called him by the name on the tag. You still look at the name.
So you didn't forget everybody. Good. Keep looking at the names.
That's the part I hoped you'd keep.