i was just in line at sun mart buying water

and ted kooser and his wife were behind me

they were buying dixie cups and tape

and ted kooser made an impulse purchase of some gum

i heard him say to his wife "oh, need some gum" as he reached for a pack

i remember thinking "i should say something to him"

because i have been reading paul's poetry basically all day

and how often does ted kooser meet someone

who just spent all day reading poetry

especially at sun mart in lincoln nebraska?

while i was thinking about what to say to him

i was also buying a bottle of aquafina water and that's it

i said to the lady working "i don't need a bag please"

and "thanks for counting that back to me" 

she said "sure, i like doing it."

i said "cool" like paul does

after she handed me the change

i remember thinking 

how thin and lovely tan her arms were

and how relatively large the rest of her seemed

i don't know if ted kooser overheard my comment about counting back the change

i remember it is something my grandpa commented on once 

how "people don't count back the change anymore"

i did appreciate that she did it, and i liked telling her within earshot of ted kooser

because i wanted him to hear it

i guess i wanted ted kooser to have faith in the twenty somethings

when i got to the car i told jj and dave and dustin that it was ted kooser

jj said no it wasn't

ted kooser talked at his graduation

and that guy wasn't him

though they looked alike he guessed

big ears and big round forehead

i accepted that I was wrong and that wasn't ted kooser

pretty happily because i thought damn

why would ted kooser buy dixie cups

what a waste of resources