John Updike's "A&P"

This was an interesting short story. This story follows Sammy, who works as a checkout in a supermarket. I laughed when I read through this story because it reminded me of myself when I was 19 and worked at Hy-vee. I never got put in the awkward situation that Lengel put Sammy in, but I remember being that awkwardly staring boy. It's comical the way Sammy talks about the customers in the store, referring to them as sheep. It's very true though, when people are in the store it's a whole different ball game. Not a lot of eye contact, a lot of thinking and moving in directions as if there are signs pointing to which way everyone moves. What was Sammy doing quitting his job? Was it Queenie and the other two girls that sparked something inside of him? I don't think Sammy quit his job just to impress those girls, I think he had a bigger reaction of growing up and not being like the "sheep", and they sparked that inner fire. He saw how they were rebelling, and he decides to rebel and quit his job. I don't think he would have quit his job if it was an 80 y/o lady wearing a two piece and got told to dress more decent. I think the story and what it means for it to be an initiation story are all in one. Sammy is a symbol of adolescence and Lengel being that of maturity. Sammy grows up within this story. Quitting his job because he didn't agree with Lengel's treatement toward them, hoping to impress the girls, and the satisfaction he is hoping to get from rebelling all teach him valuable lessons when he is walking out. The girls may not have noticed Sammy quitting, but he learned the lesson that his actions have consequences. Once he quit he knew it was too late and he couldn't go back on it. He was initiated into society and the struggles he will have to face. I think his actions are still heroic in a way. It would have been less heroic if he would have begged for his job back.