I don't really celebrate commercialized holidays, so finding a job right before Christmas really wasn't a big deal for me. My kids are grown; I'm nearly an empty-nester, and having grown up in retail (my parents owned a bar/restaurant), we always worked holidays.

A young lady stood patiently waiting her turn

As I worked the register and made attempts to be pleasant for their final shopping fury, I noticed a young lady in my lane. There was really nothing outstanding about her except that she was dressed better than 90% of the average customer and employee. I did my usual smile with quick eye contact before asking if she found everything she was looking for.

She carefully laid her purchases on the conveyor belt and I quickly noticed she used the dividers to separate her items into groups. Having a bit of OCD, I can tell you that I try my best to bag things together that make sense. Bathroom items go in one bag. Make-up in another. Cleaning products in another. Chicken gets its own bag. Other meats can be piled in one bag. It's what I do. I can't help it and I won't change. Needless to say, I get what she was doing.

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^{Girl in the Blue Dress}

Anyway...

When it was her turn she was polite but quite adamant with instructions.

"These items need to stay together.
These items are marked 50% off. I want to make sure they ring up 50% off.
Please be careful with these items. I don't want them to break."

et cetera, et cetera

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Now, many of you might have rolled your eyes, been impatient, or thought that she was being a controlling, pain-in-the-ass bitch. Something made me slow down. I took time to engage her.

You see, she had stilted speech. Her enunciation was very exact and just slightly monotone. Her attention to detail and her memory for prices was pretty remarkable, and she had a huge pile of small items that needed to be scanned. In the back of my mind I had the feeling she was autistic but it's not my place to say, "You're special, aren't you?"

A team effort

When it came time to ring out the 50% items, I asked her to watch the screen.

"I'm going to scan this as fast as possible so if something doesn't price correctly, please let me know."

I could hear her excitement when she found items that didn't have the mark down. She was quick to catch them. I was able to look up, confirm and make the price changes. For a brief moment, we made an excellent team and she was happy to participate.

At the beginning of the transaction, she had been twiddling her hands. By the time we were finished, she was relaxed and smiling. And as I turned to greet the next customer (guest), I realized her mother was beaming. She gave me the most sincere smile and I was deeply touched by that.

Exactness in everything

I had a moment to really observe this young lady. She was wearing a vintage 50s dress: fitted at the top, cinched at the waist and a slight balloon to the skirt. Her hair was perfectly coiffed with a matching headband. Her small purse matched her shoes. All-in-all she was very put together. She was graceful and beautiful.

And I cannot say exactly why she's been on my mind except that I also feel a sense of pride. And it doesn't really make sense except for the fact that I truly believe she is going to be independent one day. She's out in the world with her quirkiness and exactness. I hope the people she encounters in the future are gracious and kind.

I suppose I feel like this because I'm an Aspie and have not always been treated kindly. Maybe my sense of pride stems from seeing an autistic sister navigating life's hurdles in a beautiful blue dress.

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^{Drawing was sketched in pencil, traced and colored with markers and shaded with oil pastels and gel pens}

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