Caught Green Handed

I’m scanning groceries for a young mom and her son, who looks about six. He’s eagerly unloading items from the cart onto the belt, a loaf of bread, a bag of apples, a can of beans… and then, quietly, a candy bar from the impulse buy section.

Then another.

Then three more.

Me: *Smiling.* “Looks like someone’s doing some creative meal planning.”

Mom: *Eyeing the growing candy pile.* “Oh no, buddy, we said one treat.”

The boy freezes like he’s just been caught shoplifting, then slowly starts dragging the extras back off the belt.

As I scan a bag of carrots, she suddenly frowns and glances into the cart.

Mom: “Wait… where’s the broccoli?”

I look down the lane. Something green catches my eye behind the stack of returned baskets.

Mom walks over, retrieves the slightly squashed head of broccoli, and holds it up.

Mom: *Deadpan .* “Why is the broccoli wedged behind the pile of used baskets?”

The kid doesn’t even blink.

Kid: “I was protecting us both.”