The Zen Buddhist in Produce at Our Local Wal*Mart

The Zen Buddhist in Produce At Our Local Wal*Mart
~Herb Kitson


First of all, he refuses to punch the time clock,
says it's against his religion,
that he's not here for the money.
And he takes so long to do anything!
Days, weeks, months...it's all the same.
Just the other day, in fact, he held a lemon in his hand
the whole second shift, stood there staring at it.
"It's the center of the universe," he said,
"bright, clean, like a new sun."
Management wuld like to fire him, but can't.
Discrimination, you know, equal opportunity employment.
They wouldn't want to anyway.
Compared to Zen masters at other Wal*Marts, he's quick.
Besides he pulls in lots of customers.
They love watching how he plays with time,
how when he steps into the store, it seems to stop.