I made a customer cry today.

As I was bagging a woman's items, she asked, "would you wear these to church?"

I wouldn't wear these unless I was a clown at a child's birthday party.

"Oh, I dunno. It really depends on who you are and your style!"

"Where do you go to church, huh-nee?" Her voice was syrupy sweet.

"I don't go."

"Well, may I ask why not?"

"It's a personal choice. I just don't." I smiled gently.

"Don't you know our lord and save-YOUR, Jesus Christ?"

"Well... Yeah..." Oh no. I felt it coming on. Her eyes, puffy and rimmed with only black liquid liner behind her dollar store readers narrowed. I squared my hips and dropped my arms to my sides. I smiled, tilting my head innocently. I didn't want to fight. I just wanted to go sit back in the window and close my eyes.

"IN the beginning, there was ONLY GOD," she spat.

I stared into her eyes. They were strangely colorless. Cloudy, muddy eyes. Cataracts, maybe.

"YOU KNOW THAT. You know that Jesus is real. You know Jesus."

I paused. "Yeah."

"Jesus Christ? You know that he died on the cross to save us from our sins. He did that for me and you and everyone. YOU KNOW THAT. You believe that he did that for you, don't you?!" My eyes searched her face trying to understand an emotion. Her temples began to glisten and her mouth twitched at the corner. She stared into my skull. My skull. I swear I felt her eyes on the back of my skull.

I remained upright and neutral. "I know the...  story." I couldn't back down, but I didn't want to instigate a long stay.

She began sobbing. Sobbing. Why? "He would not have died for you for no reason. He wouldn't have. He created you!" She swept one arm dramatically towards the parking lot. "HOW could you look out there and not FEEL the luhv he has for you and know he created that beautiful earf?" She tore a bit of tissue paper out of her shoe box and wiped her eyes and forehead. "Look!" She gestured towards the parking lot again.

Struggling not to laugh, I looked into the lot. A shoe box someone had dumped on the way out the door laying in a handicapped parking space.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah."

"I had kidney cancer and it could have burst and killed me, the doctor said, but God didn't let it! He healed me! Explain that."

"That's good. I'm glad you lived." I said evenly.

She pointed a finger in my face. "When you die, if you do not believe in Heaven, what will happen to you? Ha!" Oh, she really had me now.

"My body will rot in the ground. Or I'll be cremated. I haven't decided." I strained to keep my tone as flat as possible.

"CRE-mated? And your eternal soul?!"

"My friends and family will remember me, I hope."

She scoffed and sobbed. It made a horrendous noise. "Well, huh-nee. I luhv you. I will pray for you. I will not let you go to Hell. Hell is real. Everyone is allowed to go to Heaven, you choose to go to Hell and I do not believe you're a meanin to make that choice! What's your name? For a prayer list."

"No thank you."

She gathered her bags with another heaving sob and pushed through the door. It swung back and chimed a second time and third time.