Her family of three consisting of her grandfather, mother, and herself runs a small coffee shop. Her family usually works relentlessly before, during, and after the shop’s hours. Their kind slave, Eliza, works just as relentlessly around the kitchens. Mattie herself has the easy job as a waitress and usually works much less than her family and slave. Even so, she never puts her heart into her work. This demonstrates how foolish and selfish she is; but just in a few weeks her world will change epically for herself and everyone around her.…
Sammy is different but acts like a normal cashier in this story. He is not important and does not stand out compared to his coworkers. Sammy wants the girls to notice him, so he feels the need to try to be different. “Sammy notices the gulf between them; the only way he can get them to notice him to differentiate himself from what he sees, through their eyes as the provincialism of the small town that insists on “decent dress” in its supermarket.” (126) He wants to stand out from the rest of the people in the store, such as, customers and coworkers. He calls this coworker a drone and customers sheep, which is very different and strange. Not many normal teens do that, and nothing makes Sammy any more special than the rest of the people in the store.…
Mike Rose gives an example of his mother working in a restaurant as a waitress to illustrate how her work taught her to manage time,…
Marissa Nunez had been working for two years at McDonald’s when she wrote “Climbing the Golden Arches”. This experience had many effects on her. For example; she learned many things like you have to start from the bottom to work your way up to the top. She learned this because from working at McDonald’s, there are many things that need to be done. Sometimes, you have to fill in for someone, even if that isn’t your position so it is best to know all of the jobs at the business…
As the story opens, we are introduced to an opinionated, observant, sarcastic and hormone-driven 19-year old boy who works as a cashier in a grocery store of a small town. As he describes the store and his surroundings, the reader begins to sense Sammy’s discontentment with his mundane life when he shares his thoughts and perceptions. For example, he refers to customers as “sheep” and “house slaves”. The external conflict between Sammy and his small town’s views develops as he watches the girls maneuver their way around the store. These girls were a breath of fresh air. They were new, different and seemed to stir up some outrage and criticism. For instance, Updike writes, “A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct” (119). He even began to feel sorry for the girls as he saw “old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints” (Updike 120). This demonstrates how Sammy began to realize how closed-minded and ordinary the town he lived in was. Another external conflict arises when Lengel, the store manager and Sunday school teacher confronts the girls about the store’s policy. In particular, Updike states, “‘we want you decently dressed when you come in here’ ” (121). Sammy resented the fact that Lengel and all the “sheep” judged the girls simply by their clothing or lack thereof. His act of quitting was to show them that they all overreacted to the situation with the girls.…
The entrance of the beautiful Queenie and her two friends break the cycle of the stereotypical customers that Sammy sees daily: "these are usually women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less" (p.16) . This is an eye opener for Sammy, who doesn't really step outside the boundaries of his boring little community.…
The narrator of this short story reminded me of the character Holden, from “The Catcher in the Rye”, by J.D. Salinger. In the story, the narrator described how she had to smile at Gertie and her coworkers when she sold them her produce, even though they’d criticize her food. She explains how she hated doing that because it’s not who she truly is. The same can be said about Holden. He…
“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, is a short story with many different character traits. Miss Moore is a person in the short story who has many different traits. Miss Moore teaches the kids the value of a dollar in a unique way. Miss More shows that she is caring, presentable (confident about her looks), and well educated teacher, who is trying to better the lives of the kids, through out the story. Miss Moore shows off her traits in many ways.…
The main character, Sammy of “The A&P,” struggles with choosing between the decision to stand up for what he deems morally appropriate, or the option to ignore the mistreatment of three strangers. Unsure of the consequences, this supermarket hero risks his job for the trio of young ladies whom he had never come in contact with before. His irksome attitude toward the customers displays the true feelings he holds for his grocery store career. “I pull the bow at the back of my apron and start shrugging it off my shoulders. A couple customers that had been heading for my slot begin to knock…
The story is set in a small New England town, and it is an average day. Three young girls enter the store where Sammy, a young cashier, works. He watches and analyzes their every move, and tries to guess their personalities based on body language. Sammy identifies the leader girl as “Queenie,” and takes most interest in her. The girls are only dressed in bathing suits, and gain the attention of the other men working in the store as well. This causes tension between the male characters, and causes Sammy to wonder about his own future in comparison to his male peers. Sammy does not like seeing the girls being objectified. The manager kicks the girls out based on their inappropriate attire. In an unexpected response and strange attempt to honor the girls, Sammy quits the job, and leaves the store, but immediately is overwhelmed by the uncertain consequences his actions will bring.…
Sammy is a 19-year-old boy showing off a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, which sets the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. There was this chunky one, with the two piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale...there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn 't quite frizzed right...you know the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it ' ... She was the queen with "long white prima-donna legs."(85) Completely distracted by the girls, Sammy rings a box of HiHo crackers twice, maddening the customer. He describes her as being " One of these cash-register-watchers, a witch of about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up," sarcastically showing his opinionated attitude toward women.…
The male protagonist is known only as the American in the story. He is disconnected from his girlfriend, not understanding or listening to her. The girl is the female protagonist who is less assertive and easily persuaded. She also appears helpless, confused, and indecisive at times. The only other character in the story is a non-English speaking waitress.…
Firstly, the protagonist is a young adult working as a checker in a grocery store A&P. The location of this store is “right in the middle of the town, and surrounded by two banks and the congregational church and the newspaper store and three real-estate offices, an appropriate symbol for the mass ethic of a consumer-conditioned society” (quoted in Porter, M 1155). Basically, as one resident of the village, Sammy is like his neighbors not used to see anything different from the conservative concept. However, as a young boy, not merely does not he disgust at their so-called informal dress, but he is captivated by the three girls’ sexually attractive appearance. Quite immature, when the three girls walk into his eyesight, Sammy stands in the third checking slot “with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not” (Updike 765). At first he is shocked, but after that he gazes at the appearance of “Queenie”, a name Sammy uses to call one of the girls to himself, especially spotlighting on her uncovered abdomen for he narrates that “her belly was still pretty pale” (Updike 766).…
The writer presents a young adolescent who is in her initial stages of life. Initially, she does not know that she is poor, but from her interactions with Miss Moore and the other rich kids, she becomes aware of her environment. She is however reluctant to accept that she is disadvantaged which a positive character is. It is surprising to note that believes she is the best despite realizing that she is disadvantaged. She portrays a positive character when she says, “aint nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.” She is different from many people who would feel this affects their ego. She is focused on remaining upbeat that she is the best among all of her…
The narrator's first job was working as a porter for a man named, Mr. Hoffman. During the time he was working here, he always thought that Mr. Hoffman and his wife performed in a manner to disintegrate him and that they were just out to destroy him. One day, he came to a conclusion and realization that, he had "grossly misread the motives and attitudes of Mr. Hoffman and his wife" (888). He apprehended that they did indeed care about him keeping his job even after he had not shown up for three days. He knew that any other white owner would have told him to go somewhere else to work. After an embarrassing lie, he told the owner, he finally quit his job and searched for a new job as a dishwasher.…