News

Nov 28, 2023

Well

Soon after checkout line 17 opens, the line begins to form. Regular customers at

Soon after checkout line 17 opens, the line begins to form.

Regular customers at the Severna Park Giant wheel their shopping carts up to the counter and place their items on a conveyor belt where, on the other end, cashier Bill Seebach, 70, swipes meats and cheeses across the scanner.

The Pasadena man laughs and jokes with customers as he scans the items.

"Hey girl," he calls out to regular Joyce Rizzi, who takes her place at the end of the line.

When the customers' items are all scanned and bagged, Seebach hands them a receipt, a Hershey Kiss and, of course, one of his signature inspirational cards.

"My My! Hey Hey!! Gee WHIZ!!! What A Day!!!!" his latest reads.

Seebach has become a staple at the store by handing out such messages on business cards to his customers. He estimates that he has handed out some 112,000 of them over the past decade.

On Saturday night, Seebach will hand out his last card as he heads into retirement after 3½ decades with the company.

"He's just a nice little unique part of Severna Park," said regular customer Diane Rossiello, of Arnold, who keeps a stack of Seebach's cards in her reusable grocery bag.

"He's an institution," Nancy Rando, another regular, said. "He brings a personal touch."

Although Seebach has been at the Severna Park location for the past 10 years, he has been employed with the company for 35. He said he hadn't initially planned to retire, but decided to take a buyout when it was offered.

He has also held another job in the insurance industry during the past 3½ decades.

The 70-year-old said he doesn't plan to fully retire yet and will continue working at the other job for the time being.

He began his career as a cashier at a store in Baltimore.

It was there that Seebach, a Christian, began handing out copies the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23 to customers who had fallen on hard times.

When that store closed down, Seebach transferred to the Severna Park location. Initially, Seebach commuted from his home in Baltimore's Pigtown community.

He and his wife of 43 years, Ruth, moved to Pasadena about seven years ago, he said. The couple have an adult son who now lives out of state.

The idea for the cards started simply enough. Seebach said that he felt so accepted by the staff and customers at the Severna Park store that he wanted to show his gratitude.

One day, he walked a couple of doors down from work to the Office Depot, also in the Severna Park Marketplace, and asked if it had business cards.

The shop told him yes, but he'd have to order 1,000. So he did.

The first card read simply, "Thank you, Bill."

When he saw customers' reactions to the cards, he knew he'd have to get more.

"It's one of those things that took on a life of its own," he said.

An order of 1,000 cards for about $45 would generally last Seebach a few weeks, he said.

Sometimes he'll have an idea of what he wants to say in advance. Other times, he doesn't know what the message will be until he walks into the office supplies store, he said.

What's kept him going is the connection many seem to have with the cards.

One customer, when she came through his line, made it a point to show Seebach that she carried his card reading, "Joy" around with her. Later, when he read her obituary, Seebach learned she had been terminally ill.

Another customer, whose father is terminally ill, told the cashier his father requests Seebach's card reading, "Enjoy the Sun Shine & Blue Skies," before bed.

"On the surface it's just a little business card," Seebach said, "but to that person that gets it, it means something to them."

For Seebach, the notion that he's retiring is somewhat surreal. He has never felt the job was real work.

"I get paid to come in and socialize," Seebach said. "My customers that come in here, this is like my friends and family visiting."

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