QUINCY, Mass. — Customers of a Stop & Shop in Quincy were surprised recently when Hollywood star and Boston native Mark Wahlberg bagged some of their groceries at checkout.
The 51-year-old Wahlberg spread some good vibrations during One Boston Week while hugging patrons and posing for selfies while visiting his old stomping grounds.
“Right here, this is where the whole hustle started,” Wahlberg said in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, while standing in the parking lot outside of the Stop & Shop on Newport Avenue.
He said he worked for the supermarket chain in Quincy as a bagger as a teen.
“I was bagging groceries, $3.65 an hour, while I was right up the street getting my driver’s ed,” Wahlberg said while standing in the Stop & Shop parking lot. “Same day I turned 17, I got my driver’s license, I bought a Pontiac (expletive) for $200 from Lappen’s Auto Parts. We’re going to see if I can get my job... if I can get my job back.”
“Remember, it started right here at Stop & Shop,” he said, pointing to the supermarket.
Later, Wahlberg joined customers inside.
“It’s bagging groceries time. I’m getting my job back,” he told startled customers while at checkout, while bagging their groceries. “The oranges are a little heavy for the paper. You want double or single?”
“Get out of here!” one female Stop & Shop employee said to Wahlberg before hugging him.
“Doing some serious good in this world, this young man,” another female employee said.
He then posed for selfies with customers.
Wahlberg went on from that local supermarket job to become a multi-millionaire and star in several Hollywood films, including Patriots Day, The Departed, Ted, The Italian Job and Fear.
The actor visits the Boston area frequently, and was spotted last month greeting fans at an event for his tequila brand, Flecha Azul Tequila, at Dorchester’s Total Wine.
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