A&A by John Updike

Sammy, a character created by John Updike in the short story A & P, works in the local A & P supermarket. Distracted by a group of young women that has come into the store wearing only a bathing suit, his mind wonders while helping other customers at his register. Sammy begins to daydream about the girls, even giving one a nickname. As he watches them go through the store, picking up only a can of herring snacks, they eventually come back to the checkout lines. At about the same time Lengel, the store manager, came to the front of the store to see the girls dressed in only bathing suits. …