Tweet
This morning I went shopping at the supermarket, and the time came to pay, so naturally I went into the shortest line. This was a bad move since
1) Universal law of shopping No. 1: The Shortest Line Moves Slowest
2) The first line that I pick will have someone trying to post an elephant to Outer Mongolia, no matter where I am.
For whatever reason, I ignored this, and found myself behind a woman who must have been about 85, and had decided grocery shopping was best done in her finest purple bedroom slippers. It was a bad start when she asked the cashier to pack for her, but in all fairness, it did look like she couldn't stand a stiff breeze and some of the dog food looked quite a weight, so I sighed inwardly and referred myself to rule number 2. I know how to pick 'em all right.
Problems really started when the total of £79.10 was announced. Up came the handbag, which I'm sure doubles as a bouncy castle at weekends, and the rootling began. It was a good 2 or 3 minutes before the desired object was found, and with a triumphant grin, she pulled out what I can only describe as a small toiletry bag (the sort of thing you'd stick your toothbrush and shaver in if you were stopping overnight somewhere) and dropped it down on the belt with a clank.
Funny, purses don't normally make a clanking sound... I shared a look with the cashier, already apologising with her eyes... Wait, that's not what I think it is, is it?
Oh yes it was, and when she unzipped it, out came the avalanche of pound coins. The look on the cashiers face was an utter gem, and the collective sigh of the
line behind echoed throughout the store. So the cashier started stacking them up - 1,2,3,..., stacks of ten up to 70, where there's an odd pound and 2 50 pence pieces left over. For those of you paying attention, this is £7.10 short, so when the cashier tells the poor woman this, she dives back in to the pursosaurus rex and starts her rootling again. Another minute later, and out comes...
A £10 note. Yes, this lady had held up the line by emptying out her pound coins, when she could have just peeled off a roll of notes. I secretly marvelled at how she'd managed to build up such a collection, but judging by the chuntering coming from behind me, the other customers weren't so impressed. The poor cashier couldn't apologise enough after she'd finally moved on, and even gave me a free reusable bag. I just felt so sorry for the poor woman who'd clearly forgotten how to go shopping. You can only hope there's someone out there to look after her outside the supermarket.
1) Universal law of shopping No. 1: The Shortest Line Moves Slowest
2) The first line that I pick will have someone trying to post an elephant to Outer Mongolia, no matter where I am.
For whatever reason, I ignored this, and found myself behind a woman who must have been about 85, and had decided grocery shopping was best done in her finest purple bedroom slippers. It was a bad start when she asked the cashier to pack for her, but in all fairness, it did look like she couldn't stand a stiff breeze and some of the dog food looked quite a weight, so I sighed inwardly and referred myself to rule number 2. I know how to pick 'em all right.
Problems really started when the total of £79.10 was announced. Up came the handbag, which I'm sure doubles as a bouncy castle at weekends, and the rootling began. It was a good 2 or 3 minutes before the desired object was found, and with a triumphant grin, she pulled out what I can only describe as a small toiletry bag (the sort of thing you'd stick your toothbrush and shaver in if you were stopping overnight somewhere) and dropped it down on the belt with a clank.
Funny, purses don't normally make a clanking sound... I shared a look with the cashier, already apologising with her eyes... Wait, that's not what I think it is, is it?
Oh yes it was, and when she unzipped it, out came the avalanche of pound coins. The look on the cashiers face was an utter gem, and the collective sigh of the
line behind echoed throughout the store. So the cashier started stacking them up - 1,2,3,..., stacks of ten up to 70, where there's an odd pound and 2 50 pence pieces left over. For those of you paying attention, this is £7.10 short, so when the cashier tells the poor woman this, she dives back in to the pursosaurus rex and starts her rootling again. Another minute later, and out comes...
A £10 note. Yes, this lady had held up the line by emptying out her pound coins, when she could have just peeled off a roll of notes. I secretly marvelled at how she'd managed to build up such a collection, but judging by the chuntering coming from behind me, the other customers weren't so impressed. The poor cashier couldn't apologise enough after she'd finally moved on, and even gave me a free reusable bag. I just felt so sorry for the poor woman who'd clearly forgotten how to go shopping. You can only hope there's someone out there to look after her outside the supermarket.
Comment