A & P

A & P is a short story about Sammy, a boy who worked as a cashier at a grocery store. On a particular day, three girls in bathing suits walked in the store. The way they were dressed caught everybody’s attention, especially Sammy’s.  Sammy was particularly interested in the most beautiful one. She called her “Queenie” as she seemed to be the leader of the girls. At first, Sammy described their clothing in a particular  way; he enjoyed seeing the girls that he even ranged up a customer’s product twice. He had disconnected from his work that he did not even care of the mistake he had made. However, he got upset by the way Lengel, the manager of the store, treated the girls while they were checking out their products. Lengel told them that the store was not a beach for them to be dressed up indecently.  Lengel asked Sammy if he had already rung up the girls’ purchases afterwards. As the girls were getting out of the store, Sammy told Lengel he was quitting. He said it loudly, so the girls could hear that he did not tolerate the way they were treated by the manager. Lengel  told Sammy he did not know what he was doing; he said he could not do that to his family.  Sammy knew the consequences, but he was pissed off because Lengel had embarrassed the girls. He quickly took off his apron and left it on the counter; he rushed to the parking lot with the hope of reaching the girls. To his surprise, they had already left. At the end, Sammy looked through the window that Lengel was already at his checking slot, and he told to himself how hard his life would be afterwards.

In his short story “A&P” Updike shows that sometimes heroic acts to impress others are pointless. It is evident that Sammy was attracted by the girls, especially by the one he calls Queenie. I understand that Lengel should not have treated the girls the way he did, but I think that what Sammy did was really ludicrous. He did not have to quit his job just because of that. He knew that he needed it. I do not know if he did not want to work there anymore, and he found the perfect excuse to get away with it, but he did not care. What I am certain about is that he lost his job, and he could not talk to the girls at the end. From this story, I learned that we have to make wise decisions in life. It is necessary to think about the consequences of our actions all the time. It is not worthy doing things we would regret just to impress others.