The Sunflower and The Cashier

                  She approaches my cash in a black and white striped top. I notice her belly protruding and don’t remember her having been pregnant last time I saw her. I debate in my head about whether I should say something, or just go on like I haven’t noticed. Will she think it’s strange that I acknowledge the bump with a future human inside?

                  “I didn’t notice you were pregnant before”.

                  “You remember me?” she says in her Eastern European accent. 

                  The fact that she asks me if I remember her, makes me wonder just how many of us feel like others don’t care about our existence or notice us.

                  “I remember all the regulars who come through my cash”.

                  She smiles at me and tells me she had been trying to hide the pregnancy before but can’t anymore. I tell her congratulations.

                  I wonder if anything I say will stick with her through the day and whether she realizes that people do notice her.