The main character of the story is Sammy. An eighteen year old boy from a small suburb outside Boston who works at an A & P Supermarket. Sammy seems like an average boy who seems a tad bit tired of the regular customers who come into his store. Regular customers including those older married women with multiple kids, the overweight lady who has no regrets wearing her bathing suit that doesn't quite cover, and the nit picking old ladies who spend years trying to catch an error by a cashier. It's the last ditch effort to make an impression on a beautiful young lady that ends up leaving Sammy unemployed.

The story starts out in an A & P outside of Boston when in through the door walks three young lady sporting nothing except for revealing two piece bathing suits. Quickly noticed by Sammy, he changes his focus towards the three girls and critiques them in his head as he watches them shop about the store. It's the leader of the pack, which Sammy coins the nickname Queenie, that really catches his eye. A tall brown haired girl whose shoulder straps had fall

The story "A & P" by John Updike is a tale of a young man who lets his desires and his anger get a little to far ahead of him and in the end winds up quitting his job.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Supermarket Sammy, Queenie Lengel, John Updike, Lengel Realizing, Lengel Sammy's, outside boston, Bedford/St Martins, regular customers, Michael Meyer, Lengel Lengel, , sticks moon night, Sammy Lengel, outfits girls sticks, night begins, moon night, outfits girls, girls sticks, sticks moon, notices outfits, quickly notices outfits, notices outfits girls, dreary manager, girls sticks moon, uptight dreary,
Approximate Word count = 1029
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)