Eileen at Publix supermarket. The Reliable Pest Control guy checks her out, but she ignores him.

Setting:  I am at the bakery department one morning in Publix, Ft.Myers.  An older gray haired woman ahead of me wants a loaf of sliced rye bread.  The bakery lady, with a net on her head, is waiting on her.

She is giving a dissertation on the hazards of buying bread. Meanwhile I am waiting for a plastic bag so that I can select 4 bagels.  They, like some other bagel sellers in Fla have pretty good bagels; why? These Einstein bagels  are trucked in daily frozen from the Bronx!  By 2 pm they tend to be all gone.

Net-headed woman to the gray headed woman:  “I am giving you a special bag for your bread–it has holes in it.   Why?  Because your bread is still hot, and the steam needs to escape.”

Gray headed woman to me:  Wow That’s something.

Me: If you were to put holes in your clothes, you could stay cooler in this tropical heat  (85 degrees outside.)

She: Have you seen the clothes that some women wear in this store.? I don’t like it.

Me:  (I am aware)    “I know what you mean.  They should not allow women to dress that way here. Only girls should be allowed.”

She: smiling–heads towards the deli counter.

Me:  to the net head:  Can I please have a plastic bag for my bagels?

Net head:  delighted to have someone to talk to :   “Of course”.  She finds a bag–perfect size for 4 bagels.

Me:  I grab a tong to select those New York specimens  (everything and onion. ) —My bag had no holes, but my bagels weren’t hot.

Frank Sinatra and Count Basie: