Haiku 2023–222

corner store stocking

rival vendors discussing

their common concerns

— —

A Pepsi route driver, a Dr. Pepper route driver, and a Bud LIght route driver walk into a Dollar General. As much as this sounds like the set up for a joke, it isn’t. It’s actually the basis for today’s haiku.

I stopped at a Dollar General yesterday on the way to work to purchase oil for my car. Both the Pepsi and Dr. Pepper drivers were hard at work stocking their respective shelves. While the companies they represent compete directly for your hard earned money, the conversation between the two reps seemed more like old friends catching up who haven’t seen each other in awhile. The topics of conversation included how best to make a delivery to a store they both served and tips on how to facilitate after-hours building access. When the guy delivering Bud Light showed up a few minutes later, he dropped into the conversation like he’d been there all along.

In a world that seems increasingly polarized, I found it refreshing that these three potential rivals found time in their day to be friendly on another. That rather mundane moment in a somewhat routine day deserved to be preserved in haiku.