Friendship with Convenience Store Staff コンビニの店員さんに癒された話

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I like kanten milk puddings and often buy them on my way back home. When I was paying for two types of such puddings (i.e., the middle one in a round plastic cup and the bottom one in a oblong package) at a nearby convenience store the other day, a young female cashier with blond dyed hair smiled at me saying that she also liked them, so sometimes made them at home. I was so tired from working that the chat refreshed me and warmed my heart. And it also reminded me of what had occurred long time ago to Sachiko, a friend of mine.

One afternoon, Sachiko, then living with her parents, heard her mom screaming. When rushing into the kitchen, she found her pointing out to an egg and saying that it was boiled. Her mom said that she had bought a carton of eggs the previous day at a nearby convenience store and had found one of them boiled. I bet she must have misplaced a boiled egg in the carton and Sachiko, looking back now, also finds it so stupid of her believing her mom's "conspiracy theory" that some kind of mix up must have happened during the egg packing process. But at that time she was young and naive.... Her mom insisted that she should file a complaint and report to the store because the manager was her "friend."  For her, someone she talks with more than once a week is a friend. Surprisingly, the manager believed or pretended to believe her mom's story, apologized and thanked to her for letting him know about it and gave her another carton of eggs for free! He was too sweet to hurt the lovely elderly woman's feelings. This happened a long time ago, but it still sticks in my and Sachiko's memories!

牛乳寒天が好きでよく買うのだが、先日コンビニで茶髪の店員さんに「私も好きで家でも作ります」と言われ、とても癒されました。そしてなぜか幸子さんの昔話を思い出したので紹介します。

幸子さんがまだご両親と一緒に住んでいた頃、台所で叫び声が聞こえてきたのでいってみたら、お母様が卵を指さして「ゆで卵」と叫んでいたとのこと。前日に近所のコンビニで買ったパックにゆで卵が入っているというのだ。「卵のパック作業に問題があったはずだからクレームを付ける」と言い始め、幸子さんもそれを信じたというから驚き。若かったのね。でもお母様、「店長さんは友達だから報告しなくちゃ」とも言い始めたらしい。幸子さんのお母様って週に一回以上話したらもう友達だから要注意。でも実際にお店に行って事情を説明したら、何と店長さん、話を信じてくれて（信じたふりをしてくれて）謝り、新しい卵パックを無料でくれたんですって。きっと心優しい年配の女性の気持ちを傷つけまいとしたんでしょうね。もう二十年以上思前の話ですが、幸子さん、今でも忘れられないそうです。