Man of the People

As celebrity sightings go, I suppose this one was pretty minor. But it was still kinda cool to see city councilman Mike Ross grab a spot in line behind me at the self-check-out line at Shaw's on Commonwealth Ave. this afternoon.

In all the hub-bub of the 5pm crowd, you don't expect to see someone like Mike Ross amongst the shoppers, much less on the self-check-out line. But there he was: just as cool and slick as he looks on TV, but taller than I expected, and a heck of a lot tanner. (I'm guessing he recently came back from a vacation. Must be nice.)

I was standing there, watching a clueless older woman try her hardest to figure out the machine so she could check out with her two items, wondering why I always get stuck behind these people, when Mike Ross swooped in, seemingly from out of nowhere, grabbing some flowers and something else he'd left on top of the machine while he stepped away. (Nice.) Nonchalantly, like it was no big deal, he stepped behind me and got in line. And when this woman finished, and I stepped up, I felt powerful knowing I was the only thing preventing Mike Ross from checking out and leaving the store. (Alright, I didn't really feel that way. In fact, I'm not sure why I even wrote something as dorky as that.)

Mike Ross watched as I deftly used the machine, scanning my items one by one, with no errors and no commands by the machine to rescan or check my bags, and getting it all done in what must have been record time. Except for a small panicked reaction when my slice of cake tipped over, I was in prime form. I'm sure he was impressed. (ha ha ha)

At the same time, I was intrigued and a little bit amused by the fact that no one but me seemed to recognize the guy. I mean, it's not like he's Mayor Menino or Ted Kennedy or anything, but the guy does represent many of the people in the supermarket — even if they are college students. So you'd think some of the folks would know who he was. And it was Sunday, a day off, so there was no need for him to introduce himself or make a thing out of it. So, he just checked out and headed on his way like he was any other shopper. (Unfortunately, I can't tell you how good he was at the self-check-out. That's because I am not a dorky stalker and didn't stick around to watch.)

Anyway, the message is this: Mike Ross is just like you or me. He goes to the grocery store in the middle of the Sunday rush and scans his own stuff. Good man, that Mike Ross.