Life without a walking stick

Fufi was the slowest cashiere in the store. Not that she ever wanted to be one. She grew up thinking that her life would begin and end within a marraige. She devoted her time to helping others, taking care of a large extended family. Never had she imagined that she would end up working for a living .
But fate had other plans for her and at the age of 45 ,Fufi's husband died in a tragic accident.She was left alone with three teenagers, none of whom had completed the desired level of education. There was a lot of sympathy for the family in the begining but it soon faded, and they were left to fend for themselves.
The teenagers took part time jobs in call centres and as pizza delivery guys, and Fufi secured a job in the supermarket as a casheire.Far from being good at her work, she was the most confused person there who had no idea about any of the products in the modern supermarket . Whats more she did not care to remember a thing they taught her. She gladly accepted help from her fellow workers and even from the customers. If they asked her the whereabouts of any thing as simple as the maggie noodle, she would stare blankly at them in complete mystification. She also wondered what a maggie noodle was. She hated her job and blamed her karma openly .
Once when she was new in her job, her teenagers came to her store. They discovered the horrible truth about Fufi. How very slow and incompetent she was in her job, how she never heard anything right, or saw properly without her glasses. They discovered how painfully akward she was at returning the change. By the time she started bagging three happy customers had already finished their business in the other line.They felt terribly ashamed of her.
"God how can you ever be a cashiere ?You have no idea how slow you are. We are not working there and yet we can be better than you.God! How can they keep you there? How come you are not yet fired."They hurried out of the store determined never to set foot there agian!
Those were the exact questions fufi asked herself everyday in the first few months."Why dont they just fire me?" But it never happened. Life settled into a slow routine once more. She got a little faster as years went by and at the end of four years she finally knew where all the things were. She even began to relax on the register and joked with her customers who had acceped her incompetance as a fact of life.
Five years went by.One of her son got a very good job and the other had an offer as soon as he graduated. Life was looking good. On the fifth anniversary of her job, the owners offered Fufi a little silver coin with goddess Laxmi and Shri Ganesha on either side.They also gave her a sealed envelope."Aha this must be a salary increase" thought Fufi in excitement and opened her envelope. It contained a message:Your services will no longer be required .
Fufi could not beleive it. "Why me? Why now? Where will I go from here. I am so old.. who will give me a job now?" She ran out crying.
It was then that she saw an old lady painfully walking with the help of a wobbly walking stick.As she was trying to cross the road a rash youth drove right into her and knocked her down. Instead of stopping and assisting the old lady he just kept on driving.
The walking stick broke into two.Fufi and a few others rushed forward to help the old lady. She was badly shaken, and trembling .Tears were rolling down her face and she had suffered several cuts and bruises.
But she got up with the help of the passers by, and thanked them. "God bless you all !" she cried and continued to walk home without her walking stick.
Fufi picked up the broken pieces and silently followed her.