Actually she’s classified as a security guard, but still… The first thing I noticed about her as I passed through the automatic doors of Whole Foods at Foggy Bottom was her beautifully applied eye makeup. I’ve seen this sort of thing with a number of women in service roles where they have to wear uniforms for certain types of jobs: the desire for some flash and flare, some burst of color or shine of bling. The phlebotomist who took my blood that morning had brightly painted purple nails and several glittering rings on each hand plus short-cropped hair dyed blonde. We compared our nail polish as she prepared to stick me, mine a lighter shade of lavender. Her technique was flawless, though she said my veins were small.

As I approached one of the empty tables with my food-bar selection and coffee, the security guard approached me and asked if I had paid for my meal because I’d walked back to the front area of the store along the aisle parallel to the cashier/self-pay line. I told her that yes, I had paid at the coffee counter, thinking that was the end of it. But moments later, she returned with my receipt which I hadn’t bothered to collect. So after I had answered her, she walked all the way back to the barista to check the veracity of my reply.

Who me? Are you kidding? A white woman of advanced age? Maybe the security guard is new here, angling for a promotion. Maybe she’s been schooled to stop anyone and everyone who doesn’t conform to every rule imaginable. It never occurred to me to make sure I had a receipt. It never occurred to me to consider which aisle I took to reach the seating area. Why should I think about such things? I’m in a class of people rarely stopped by police or security unless we do something so brazen, so glaringly obvious as to be unavoidably punishable, or at least noticeable.

After enjoying my late breakfast, I went downstairs to the restroom and then searched for Marconi almonds which I purchased at one of the self-pay registers. I took my receipt and on my way out, showed it to the lovely security guard. I almost wanted to thank her for the lesson in social justice.