Have you ever make a poor decision? Have you ever felt like a hero? Have you ever made a poor judgment call, quit a job to be a hero, and then have been disappointed? In the story "A&P"" by John Updike a 19-year old Sammy, a protagonist, quits his job, because he wants to be a hero for three girls, who were shopping there just in bathing suits. From the details, reader knows that Sammy is bored with his job, he doesn't like the manager, and he is tired of the same routine every day. He is describing the perfect picture to make us understand why he made such a poor decision. Through Sammy, John Updike shows us that many of us make decisions based on our feelings that are not always accurate. .
Sammy is just a typical teenager who needs some excitement while working; he also has a "macho"" ego. We know that Sammy's father is friends with the store manager, Lengel. Sammy spends his summer, working in A&P store as a cashier. It becomes very boring to "[watch] the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle"" (91). During his afternoon shift three girls "Queenie"", "Plaid"", and "Tall Goony-Goony"" (93) walked to the store barefoot and just in swimming suits. It was the only entertainment for Sammy and his co-workers. However, manager made a comment: "We want you decently dressed when you come in here"", and in this moment Sammy wanted to become a hero by quitting his boring job, and showing respect and understanding to the girls.
Sammy paints a negative picture of his every day responsibilities as a cashier to give us more understanding and sympathy toward him. He calls customers "sheep pushing carts down the aisle"" (91), and "cash-register-watchers"", who are giving him "hell"" (89). Older people, mothers with children, and some other boring people are his everyday customers. His job is just to ring the purchased products up and put it to the bag. When these three girls walked to the store, you can obviously see stars in Sammy's eyes.
