Written by: Larissa Melville

It was another average Tuesday.
The day teems;
a welled glass holding the frustration in,
levels rising drip by drip.
That’s how Tuesdays are: patience thin,
weekend energy gone, Friday too far.
And on this damned day,
nothing is out of the ordinary,
so, neither customer nor cashier would have felt so
trapped in their spilling irritation,
had it not been Tuesday.

It was the same woman.
Stopped by twice in half an hour. Strangely,
she’d been pleasant to me, it was usual,
caring,
the first time around. Feeling daring,
I was curious come the second:
“why did you black out the VISA
symbol on your card, ma’am?”
I asked, because it looked dumb,
as if done in an angry rush.
She doesn’t look up, card pressed flush
to her thumb. Rather, she heaves
a long-suffering sigh. I gathered this woman
carried the weight of the world
in her teeming, teeming cup. I knew then,
I’d fucked everything up.
“Are you suggesting I’m stupid?”
I found I couldn’t say anything
a dull “uh” escaped my lips
I was so confused, but refused
to let this woman leave
without exorcising whatever
demon, from its rude hole
had oh-so-suddenly
grieved her poor, unsuspecting soul.
So, I sputtered some apology, or
some explanation, I really
can’t recall; I just know I wanted
to say nothing at all.
Then she finally left with a “thank you”
and a smile, and I, all the while,
feeling lost, and a little through.
Feeling I should say,
this only seems to happen, on
every average Tuesday.