Poetry - I Became Aware of Rachel Ray Today

[These headlines are true by the way...]

lady in front of me has a problem paying
so much for being
in the shortest line
i look for something to read
so my mind wanders and my eyes follow
I see a gossip magazine that reads
Rachel Ray divorced - in capital letters,
white on red. i think, who is that?
rachel ray, does not ring a bell
as I turn to my right I see
Rachel Ray Today magazine
and there the very same lady
is smiling whereas she was just sulking
my cashier has left her station
oh joy, I moan inwardly,
as my eyes again wander
there's a wasp that has snuck in
through the automatic doors that i'd
almost walked into, they were opening slow
he bounces quietly along the ceiling tiles
unnoticed by the masses buying
groceries below

two cashiers out of nine
22.2% of the registers open
77.8% are closed, dark, a yellow chain drawn.
two cashiers, and one of them
is my cashier who stands
behind an angry older man
at Customer Service, he is furious
they failed to honor his expired coupon
he is very loud and looks familiar,
where have i seen him?
another customer, a young, short woman
is putting change into a counting machine;
the tinkling and rattling of the coins
draws my attention, drowning out the yelling
of the older man for a moment
"Rachel Ray Today", something to do with food
is she a chef? is she on TV?

but wait, "the enquirer" reads
"oprah to rachel ray
'you make me sick!'"
the wasp has moved on now,
buzzing above the baked goods
french bread is hot and now
must be 4 o'clock, the wasp,
still unnoticed, swoops down
to review the hot, soft breads
and bounces back up as if
carried away by the warm aroma.
the cranky old man yells again
at the stoic young, Haitian-American manager,
she can only listen as i realize that
I have thrown that man out of my store,
but she cannot, "the customer is always right"
in large green letters is placed
conspicuously above her head.

My cashier gives up and returns,
rings out the customer. she must
have thought of a solution independently,
whatever the crisis, and the register chimes
anew as i review the evidence before me;
rachel ray, someone to do with food,
rachel ray, divorced, in the news,
rachel ray, makes oprah sick,
can't be all that bad, I think,
as the cashier raises her voice,
and yells at me "Next!"
the old curmudgeon of a man
rides out on his wheelchair/scooter
followed by the woman of the coins
and the wasp who returns to his nest
in the albertson's sign behind the "A".
a pantomime of anger, relief, and satisfaction
in a crumb of bread, yet i was the wiser still
for i became aware of rachel ray today.