At The Cambridge Co-Op

“Do you want to come in,” I ask Jon as we pull into the parking lot at the Cambridge  Co-Op.  He asks me if Ute is working and when I tell him she is, he says he’ll stay in the car and take a nap.

He’s joking, kinda.

Ute and I have become friends and like to yak when the store isn’t busy.  Ute has sheep and is a quilter, but we have enough other things in common to call each other our “sister from another mother.”

I was at the Co-Op because another  friend called and asked if I liked haddock.  She had ordered it  then changed her plans for dinner.    She asked if I wanted it.

Salmon is my staple fish, but I like trying something different so I thanked her and headed out to pick up the fish to make for dinner.   The Co-Op gets a fresh fish order once a week which is pretty unusual and convenient, in a small Upstate NY town.

I got to the Co-Op and  before I could even ask for it, Ute said she’d get me the fish.  When she rang up my order she only charged me for the dried mango I had bought.  “What about the fish,” I asked?”

Ute told me that my friend had already paid for it,  “She said you’d try to pay for it and I shouldn’t let you.”   Ute had removed the label with the price from the fish,  just in case I gave her a hard time, which I was just about to do.  “Very smart of you,” I laughed.

I took the fish and gave Ute a hug.

A few days later I was back, this time picking up some groceries to bring to the same friend.

Again, when I walked in Ute knew why I was there.   She  had the gallon of milk and a bag of fresh greens put aside in the cooler.  It was already paid for.   “I know what my customers want,” she said.

And she does, she also knows everyone by name, is always helpful, and is a generous hugger.

As I left the Co-Op I couldn’t stop smiling.

Where does this happen, I through except in a small town, in a place like the  Co-Op. I’ve gotten used to it, probably even take it for granted.  But when something like this happens it reminds me how special it it.

I grew up in the Suburbs of Long Island where people go out of their way not to talk to each other.

This is why I wanted to move to Cambridge, for this kind of community.

Sure, living in small town where everyone knows each other can also be not so good sometimes.  But at this point in my life I prefer it to being anonymous.

It’s comforting to know my town is there,  and that it knows me.