A & P By John Updike Summary

In the short story "A & P", John Updike explains how Sammy is a young man working as a cashier. One day three young ladies come into the supermarket half-dressed wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy is intrigued by these young women, along with everyone else in the supermarket. Sammy watches their every move, as the girls made their selections. Sammy tries to play the hero at the end of the story; however, he may have been his own worst enemy.
Sammy describes the three girls in great detail throughout the story. "The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white Just under it, where the sun never seems to hit at

Sammy proceeds to check the snacks out for the young ladies. Lengel is Sammy 's manager, who is also a friend of Sammy 's family. Sammy spotted Lengel, as he made his way over to the checkout aisle and the girls. Sammy immediately starts thinking "oh great, here we go". "Then everybody 's luck begins to run out. Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot and is about to scurry to the door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day when the girls touch his eye. Lengel 's pretty dreary, teaches Sunday school and the rest, but he doesn 't miss that much. He comes over and says, 'Girls, this isn 't the beach '. Lengel continues to repeat himself over and over again. The only time someone repeats themselves, is when one does not understand what the speaker is saying. This is not the case. "Queenie" and the girls understood what Lengel told them. "But this isn 't the beach (499)." The girls were almost out of the store. They were not on this huge shopping spree. "We weren 't doing any shopping. We just came in for one thing (499)." Lengel would not leave the situation alone, he kept pushing the issue. "That makes no difference, we want you decently dressed when you come in here (499)." After arguing with Queenie, Lengel throws in the white flag. "Girls, I don 't want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It 's our policy

He displayed a true act of heroism that day in the supermarket, and stood up for what he believed in. Sammy did not approve of the way everyone was gawking at the girls, and the way Lengel embarrassed. He felt protective of them. Sammy made the decision to quit his job based on what he thought was the right thing to do. However, Sammy got himself into this situation. Sammy quit so abruptly, he did not think of the consequences. If he hated his job that much he could have given them a two-week notice. Sammy did not dwell on what type of stress this would put on his parents, or how hard it would be to find another job after quitting on a whim. He let his hormones get the best of him. The girls gave him a way out, gave him an excuse to quit the A&P. Sammy acted immaturely, which is why he lost his