Short Story

I used to have a part time job at Bath & Body Works. For those of you who live under a rock and smell bad, Bath & Body Works is a veritable cornucopia of lotions, soaps, perfumes, etc. Not a bad place to work. When you'd make a mess, a least it would smell good.

Working at B&BW required a substantial amount of physical labor. I worked at the store through the Christmas holiday and it was the equivalent to what I can only imagine Santa's workshop is like at the peak of the season. I unloaded literally hundreds of boxes of robes, slippers, soap, lotion, body spray and all manner of foo-fooey products every day.

On my best day, I'm 5'4" tall. Reaching the top shelves of the store was quite a stretch for me and I often had to enlist the help of a ladder in order to accomplish my task.

One day, sans ladder, I was stocking a shelf of Sweet Pea lotion when I heard a voice behind me ask, "Could you reach up and get a bottle of that lotion off the top shelf for me?" Without turning (as I was arduously engaged in my task) I stretched to my full length, reached to the top shelf and replied, "I'm a little short, but I think I can get it!". As I turned to hand the product to the customer, my gaze fell and landed on the midget standing at waist height in front of me.

With my words, "I'm a little short..." blaring through my head, I handed her the Sweet Pea lotion (Sweet Pea for hell's sake!), smiled sheepishly and walked away.