THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411180112
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
It's a busy day in the commissary. The groceries will be behind locked doors tomorrow since the store will be closed for Veterans Day.
So the line of shoppers winds back and forth behind the guide ropes in front of the cash registers and down past the frozen food all the way to the fresh chicken parts.
The express line is doing a brisk business as people put off their major shopping once they see the crowd and get just a few things to tide them over.
One woman, about half way down the express line, has way more than the 15-item limit in her grocery cart. So, as she inches closer to the checkout, she takes out her bacon, her celery, her frozen TV dinners and puts them in a hand basket. She leaves it on the floor at the end of the conveyor belt, checks out and pays for her remaining groceries.
As people in the express checkout move forward, the woman dashes out to the car with her purchased items, then, a few minutes later, comes back into the store, retrieves her small basket of remaining items and takes a place at the end of the express checkout . . . again.
- Krys Stefansky 4:45 p.m. - Oceana Boulevard.
A man driving a red Hyundai proudly shows his true colors. His license plate reads: MORON.
- Holly Wester FRIDAY, NOV. 11 10:30 p.m. - Great Neck Road.
The kitchen in Bella Pasta is out of ice cream for the rice pudding.
No problem. At a table of four, a portly gentleman gets up, leaves his party sitting in the restaurant with their desserts and walks out the front door.
He's back in just a few minutes. In his hand he carries the solution, a paper bag of ice cream from a nearby shop.
- Krys Stefansky MONDAY, NOV. 14 12:45 p.m. - Pizza Delight at Pembroke Mall.
Three co-workers share parenting information during their lunch break. Between bites of hot pizza and subs, the men talk about breast feeding and baby sleeping habits.
One of the men, a new dad, shares one aspect of fatherhood with his experienced colleagues. ``It's weird going to bed so early,'' he says. ``I feel like my parents.''
- Holly Wester 8:45 p.m. - Food Lion on Salem Road.
A woman is checking out her groceries in line and takes out a checkbook. When she opens it she gasps in horror at the blank deposit slips.
``Uh, do you take Visa?'' she asks the cashier, who has rung up about half of the groceries.
``No.''
``Um, do you have a phone I could use, then?'' the woman asks, her face turning red. ``I have no checks in here!''
The cashier directs the woman to a phone. She dials her husband and asks him to bring the next set of checks to the store. The cashier finishes ringing the groceries and the bagger completes his task. The bagged groceries are placed in a cart and moved to the side so that other shoppers can move through the line. The woman waits patiently, ignoring the puzzled looks on people's faces.
About five minutes later the woman's husband runs in with the new set of checks. She places them in the checkbook and writes the amount of the groceries on one.
``I'm really sorry about this,'' she says to the cashier and bagger. ``I feel like a criminal.''
They laugh and the bagger tells her not to worry. I happens to people all the time.
- Pam Starr WEDNESDAY, NOV. 16 9:15 a.m. - General District Court.
The line in the accounting office of the Traffic Division holds only about six offenders who are waiting to pay up or otherwise reconcile outstanding business before the court.
A man at the front of the line has plenty to say and in such tight quarters everyone has become his audience, regardless of their willingness. The mustachioed man, who appears to be about 30, is jabbering away when suddenly a police officer pokes his head inside the doorway and appears for a moment to take his place at the end of the line. Twenty seconds later he exits.
The speechmaker seizes the moment and blurts, with a chuckle, ``I thought for a moment, they had gotten him, too! You know, you'd think they'd take care of their own, but they don't,'' he says. ``I knew a cop from New York who was down here on business and he got a ticket for speeding or something. You'd think they'd let him go, but they didn't . . . ''
The man moves on to a new topic and the wait continues.
- Kevin Armstrong 1:25 p.m. - Holland and Shipps Corner roads.
A sign plastered to the rear window of a northbound green van reads:
``My kid can beat up your honor student.''
- Bill Reed THURSDAY, NOV. 17 8:30 a.m. - Atlantic Avenue.
A young woman, her unbuttoned raincoat flying straight out behind, her long brown hair streaming away from her face, is being buffeted by the gale force winds blowing through Virginia Beach this miserable morning.
As she stands there, she first looks north along Atlantic Avenue, then shakes her head and looks down at the bicycle next to her.
Finally, she grips the handlebars and starts walking the bicycle into the face of the storm.
- Melinda Forbes ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Framed by his work
Bob Millett, a framer with Jaeger Inc., works on the new RC Movies
12 theater that is under construction at Columbus Village. The
development, located at the corner of Constitution Drive and
Columbus Street, will also house retail shops.
by CNB