Journalist Shares Regrets for Judging C-Store Clerk

Essay describes experience of getting to know clerk after misjudging her.

July 23, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY – In a recent piece published in Utah’s Deseret News, Jason Wright used his “Wright Words” column to issue a public apology to a convenience store clerk who he had misjudged.

In the column, Wright describes how he first encountered Handy Mart clerk Cheri Romick, recalling her “worried eyes and a tired smile.” Throughout the essay, Wright describes his (largely unsuccessful) attempts to get past Romick’s default greetings and engage with her over his regular morning visits to the store: “No matter the hour and whether I was alone or with my crazy kids, her mood never seemed to change,” he writes.

The essay continues: “One morning, after a long trial and after examining the evidence, I appointed myself judge and issued a verdict. ‘She’s just not very friendly,’ I decided. ‘Plus, she’s grumpy and definitely not a morning person. Oh, and she probably hates her job, too.’”

However, Wright’s confessional column doesn’t end there. He goes on to describe eventually learning that Romick had recently experienced the loss of both her parents whom she cared for and lived with, inspiring Wright to return to Handy Mart and try to genuinely relate to her as a person, not simply a clerk.

“I love my trips to the local Handy Mart more than ever,” writes Wright in the essay. “No, it’s not the only convenience store in town, but it’s the one where I am reminded that the person behind the counter, or on the street, or on the other end of the phone doesn’t need to be analyzed or judged. They need to be seen.”

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