Through the Eyes of Sammy: An A&P Checker
             This short story by John Updike describes a few minutes in the life of an A&P checker. The setting, in 1961, reflects on some of the values society held at that time. People were expected to act and dress in a proper fashion. The conflict in this story revolves around the appearances of three teenage girls and the differences of opinion between Sammy, the checker, and his boss. To understand the conflict, we must first look at Sammy's intolerance of others.
             Throughout the story Sammy mentally criticizes the looks and actions of people around him. For example, he describes a customer that comes through his checkout line as a "witch with rouge on her cheeks and no eyebrows" (Updike 73). He is irritated with her because she gives him a hard time for ringing up an item twice. His sarcasm extends to the usual women, in their small town that have "six children and varicose veins mapping their legs" (Updike 75). He also refers to the men working on the sewer as "freeloaders" (Updike 75). Although Sammy "sizes up" the teenage girls that come into the A&P, he is annoyed that the butcher does the same. He even thinks of the women shoppers in the A&P as "sheep" herding down the aisles, checking their lists and muttering to themselves. Then there is Queenie, the leader of the three girls, whom he depicts as being from a wealthy family who eats herring snacks and has "drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them" (Updike 76). Sammy wonders how girls' minds work – "is there a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar" (Updike 73). Even though he obviously finds something attractive about Queenie and her "long white prima-donna legs," he can't help but to degrade her in his thoughts (Updike 73).
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