A conversation at the checkout with Publix veteran Evan VandePolder

If Evan VandePolder seems like he's been working at the front of Longboat Key's Publix Supermarket for a long time, consider this. 

He started the same year as Crystal Pepsi.

VandePolder is still here after 30 years. Crystal Pepsi? Well, let's just say New Coke has some company. 

“At Publix, we have a slogan that you know we’re in the people business, we just happen to sell groceries. That was one of (founder George Jenkins') famous quotes for us, and it’s true,” Store Manager Jonathan Enger said. “We’re grateful to have Evan as a Publix associate just because the emphasis he puts on his customers.”

The truth is that VandePolder, 52, did spend eight months at another Publix location — but only because the Bay Isles Parkway store was undergoing a top-to-bottom renovation. 

Customers often choose a longer line to chat with VanderPolder, who is autistic and calls himself “a bit of a polymath,” or a Renaissance man. 

“Maybe I’m exalting myself. I’m speaking too highly of myself that way, but I just say often I understand many things more than most people do,” he said. 

VandePolder grew up in Bradenton and left for Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan — where his four siblings, parents, grandparents, nieces and nephews all attended — before returning to the area for good with a bachelor's degree in English.

“We were kind of a Calvin College family,” he said.

As for his degree, VandePolder compares it to Morticia Addams' response about her education in the "Addams Family Values.”

“‘Private tutoring and hexes and spells.' And the counselor goes, ‘liberal arts,’” he joked.

VandePolder can speak broadly on almost any subject but said he’s been told to stick to groceries when chatting with customers. So instead of asking, “What are you going to do with that marjoram?” which he says would be “poor form,” he offers a history of the item or how it’s often used.

And he certainly would never pack a fresh herb at the bottom of a bag.

With such a long history at the store, VandePolder can tell you that Karo syrup is only used for baking and is the only brand sold in the store. Or that when the store was rebuilt in 2012, they didn’t just rebuild; they raised the level of the ground to put the store into a different flood zone. 

VandePolder worked as a cashier for a while but went back to bagging groceries, “I couldn’t focus on it, and yes, I was shooting off my mouth too much,” he said, which is the same reason customers and management alike enjoy his company. 

A couple weeks ago, VandePolder was on vacation in Georgia when someone recognized him from Publix at Anna Ruby Falls. Not only does he get to know his customers, but he is committed to performing his duties with excellence even when receiving strange requests as well.

“I still feel funny when people say, ‘You can put it all in one bag,’ and you know there’s heavily scented fabric softener and sliced watermelon,” he said, “I can’t imagine anybody would want that.”

Although the thought of combining laundry aids and fresh fruit in one bag goes against Publix policy and makes VandePolder feel squeamish, he said the customer is always right.

“This is something that I can devote myself to meeting people’s needs,” he said, “The customers say they’re quite confident that I’m going to bag their order as they want me to.”

But it’s equally the witty commentary and interesting conversations that keep customers in VandePolder’s checkout line. 

“He loves people, and that’s a perfect Publix associate,” Enger said. “He does an outstanding job for us.”