Cleo (#756) 01-10-15

Looking for a 'new' jacket, I entered one of America's treasures, a Goodwill store. A lady immediately greeted me, “Welcome to Goodwill.” It seems that WalMart has institutionalized the 'greeter.' As I left with my contraband, she smiled and said, “Have a good day!”. I went to the car to drop off the jacket and get my camera.

When I reentered the store, she looked surprised. When I explained the project and asked to meet and photograph her, Cleo immediately agreed, but the smile vanished. She became all business. I asked if she could step outside for a minute, and she agreed. As we took a few steps she said, “excuse me..., Welcome to Goodwill” to an entering customer. I got a few shots immediately outside the front door; she suddenly turned around toward an approaching customer, “Welcome to Goodwill.” Cleo takes her job seriously.

She is from Asheville, but was not interested in talking about herself. The more I talked, the more suspicious looking she got. I showed her the image on the LCD. She didn't look particularly pleased when she said, “The camera sees what it sees.” I asked if she wanted me to get another shot, perhaps with her smiling. “Don't matter. The camera sees what it sees.”

Bob