Illusions

The stench of cigarettes revolved around the young girl in front of the checkout counter. All I could see was her denigrate eyebrow piercing and her untamed red hair. As she placed the items on the conveyor belt an awkward silence filled the air. As I began scanning the items, I noticed the odd combination of objects, which included a family pack of nail files, 2 reams of grid paper, sticky notes, a value pack of apple juice boxes, a bracelet kit, and an inflatable couch. I began to wonder why the young girl needed all these items. I tried striking up conversation by complimenting her black nail polish but all she replied was “thanks.” When I rang up all the items and told her the total, she looked at the cash register with covetous eyes which made me nervous and gave me an unsettling feeling. She paid in cash and as soon as I handed her the change she sped off and didn't even give me the chance to ask if she needed assistance carrying the items to her car. As I was clocking out of work all I could think about was the young girl. I asked myself what she was going to do with all the items she purchased, what was she going to do with so many apple juices and the inflatable couch? On my drive home from work i concluded that she was running away from home and moving in with her friends or something. Her dyed hair, piercing, and emo clothing gave the illusion that she was a rebellious teen. I stopped by the convenience store to stock up on groceries. As I was walking through the aisles, I noticed a big crowd gathered in front of the small television screen mounted up by the cash register. I casually walked up to the crowd trying to get a sense of what was playing on the TV. It must've been a big deal because everybody was glued to the screen not acknowledging anything else. I shoved my way toward the screen only to see a homage on the news to the young girl who purchased the odd items earlier. I had an epiphany and realized she was the director of the local homeless shelter. Her purchase finally made sense, she bought the inflatable couch for the shelter, the juice for the refugees, and the other items to donate to the less fortunate. I couldn't believe I had the audacity to think the worst of this girl just because of her appearance. The news segment revealed that as a teenager she was a victim of domestic abuse and ran away from her toxic household and years later with help of the community donations she opened the homeless shelter to help other young teens and families who found themselves in similar situations. As the news segment ended all I could think about was the expression “never judge a book by its cover.”