Vodka and Cat Food

I seem to always get stuck behind all the single ladies at the market. And it's funny how the conveyor belt represents some kind of personal space.I mean they give you those tiny dividing bars to keep your goods separated from the person behind you. How dare you place your bread next to my tomatoes! But we all know that you can't help but take a look at what the person ahead of you is placing on that belt. Sometimes I do it because I'm bored and sometimes I do it because I'm curious. The assesments in my thought bubble are quick and succinct.Green beans and salmon, he's healthy. A pint of chocolate ice cream, she's had a hard day. Chef Boyardee and Oreos, looks like dad is in charge of dinner. But that quick game I play while I'm waiting for my turn to get scanned turns to wonder when I'm stuck behind the slightly older single lady with Vodka and cat food. A cliche before my eyes and ahead of me...yes. But I start to build a scenario that can work its way into a story or maybe even a song. Vodka and cat food, she lives alone and her bbf(best beast friend) is obviously a cat probably a tabby. The vodka to me indicates sadness. She is going home to pour a glass and drink and stare out the window of her 1 bedroom apartment on Coldwater. She works at a menial low paying job that she hates and she can't wait to pay the cashier and get back to hide from the outside world here that is Ralph's.My mind starts to begin the build of how she came to LA to "make it" only to be cast as a perpetual extra and then... The lady with the Vodka is looking at my goods taking stock of what I've put on the belt. Dino chicken, eggs, milk, bananas, carrots,a pack of burger patties, a loaf of bread. I've been outed. I RAH who obviously has children and lives in a neatly manicured 3 bedroom home with a driveway AND a minivan. Then comes the tilt of the head. It's like the slow motion effect in a movie. Scene: her eyes affixed on the contents placed on the checkout line. Her head slowly moves from looking down to tilting up and back towards the person behind her. And here it comes....it takes all of the Vodka lady's energy to muster up a solemn, weak smile. For a moment her face brightens and then retracts back to its melancholy state.
That attempted smile gets me. That one non verbal gesture sent a telepathic jumble of words into my brain.
Hi miss mom. I could have been you. I could have been buying Dino chicken for my kids if I didn't spend all my time dedicating it to my craft of acting. The days slipped into years that slipped into a decade or two. I still get calls from my agent...Occasionally. But I know that my breakout role is coming soon. So now I'm going to pay so I can get out of your way and go back to my apartment to wait for the phone to ring. Vodka and cat food. It gets me every time.