During the time I was circulating petitions in the Scott Walker recall campaign, I began getting signatures outside Lena’s grocery store and deli on Teutonia and Capital Drive. I had a bird’s eye view of a steady stream of shoppers coming and going all day long. They filed past me on their way into Lena’s, smiling politely and treating me like a guest, a bit odd, somewhat unpredictable, but a guest just the same.
After several days spent hugging the building to stay warm, I did the obvious and went inside Lena’s to see what the fuss was about. Some people moved around the store doing what looked like their weekly grocery shopping, but a throng of them were lined up in front of the deli cases. A few nodded at me or smiled, a well dressed older man watched me out of the corners of his eyes. But most people, went on about their business, and if it was unusual to see a white woman in their store, they didn’t let on.
When it was my turn, I ordered black eyed peas, greens and corn bread, passing up the fried chicken but not the mac and cheese. “Here baby,” the tall, thin clerk who moved like a streak said to me, “Let me get you some good corn bread I just baked.” While I was waiting for her to come back, I noticed a young, well-dressed woman who looked like she could have been an administrator somewhere watching me eyeing the cobbler. I glanced over at her saying with a sigh, “I haven’t had real cobbler since I left Arkansas when I was still a kid.”
She smiled back at me. “This is gooood cobbler,” she said. “Peach.”
I decided then and there to take some home with me. Soon, I was back out in the parking lot and into my car where I could sit comfortably and concentrate on my food. I opened the black eyed peas container and dug in with a plastic spoon. I ate the slightly salty peas and the meaty, rich flavored greens using the corn bread to sop up the juice until the containers were empty. Then I pulled on my double gloves, gathered my boards and went back out into the lot, satisfied and much warmer.
