A&P

I agree with Updike that this story is about manly decisiveness. Once Lengel disrespected the girls that were shopping, you could tell from the story that Sammy immediately decided that he had enough of it and quit. I think Sammy’s epiphany is that his family feels that all a person has to do while working at a grocery store is watch customers when it is slow. You can tell that this is something that has been bothering Sammy for some time. I think that Sammy is just bored with working at a grocery store to begin with and then when he has to deal with his manager embarrassing him and the girls, he has just had enough. Sammy spent however long daydreaming while watching these girls walk around in their bathing suits. When they finally came to his register to check out, everything changed for the worst when he was embarrassed by his manager. By Sammy quitting right on the spot, this is showing his manly decisiveness because he is sticking up for women because he felt that the way his manager told the girls that they were not dressed appropriate was inappropriate.