Today, I went to the supermarket to get some groceries. I was standing there with a bunch of coupons in my hand when I suddenly realised that I was in front of a bank of swanky candy vending machines. These were some really high-end gumball vending machines. It sounded like bells and whistles were being blown at the same time. There was a yellow light that was going around and around. When I saw that these cutting-edge machines accepted ones and fives, I couldn’t believe how far gumball machines had come in such a short amount of time.
I recalled the time when I was younger and how I used to stand exactly where I was standing now. There was a single gumball machine that was crimson. It was situated all by itself in the far off nook. Because I had never seen anything else quite like it, I felt it had an incredible appearance. A man walked into the business in a halting manner and proceeded to make his way slowly to the machine. Even though he walked like an elderly man, he wasn’t even close to that age. It was obvious that he was in some discomfort when walking. He went to the gumball machine in the same spot where there is now a spiral gumball machine. The gumball machine was red and quite small.
I kept my eyes on him as he worked the machine by inserting the tiny gumballs one by one. He approached his task with extreme caution. Using a rag that he pulled out of his pocket, he cleaned the gumball machine. At long last, he opened a little door and spilled a handful of pennies into his hand, which he counted and then stuffed into a pocket of his coat. The very last thing he did was clean the glass globe, which was covered in the tiny fingerprints of youngsters who were hungry. He handed me a gumball as he was walking away from the table. I had no idea that he was aware that I was in the room.
Over the course of several years, I felt sorry for the man. What a tonne of effort he put in for such a small amount of money. As an adult, I was standing there near the candy dispensers and sticker machines, and as I thought about what had happened, tears started to spring up in my eyes. The Rolls Royce that drove up in front of the store’s door was so far away that I could hardly make out its details. A man who was only a little bit older than I am emerged from the building carrying a box in one hand and a stunning cane adorned with a golden hound’s head in the other. He was decked up in a suit that was more expensive than the automobile I drove. He was accompanied by a young guy, and he watched as the child maintained the bank of machines while he was there.
After they had finished, the elderly gentleman in the nice suit and gold cane saw me and hobbled up to speak to me. He looked me in the eyes while he handed me a gumball that was similar to the ones that are sold in gumball machines. What he told me right before he left for his luxurious car is something that will stay with me forever. He inquired, “Have you been in this location the entire time?”