Checked Out At The Checkout

(I’m at the local hardware store. There is one customer in front of me and one behind me, and a teenage cashier who looks like the last place she wants to be, is here. She stands in silence, purposely looking away from the lineup, chewing bubblegum. Customer #1 is at the till, patiently waiting for her to notice. After about a minute of all of us being ignored, Customer #2 pipes up.)

Customer #2: “Uhm, excuse me? Are you busy? You can deal with this lady you know.”

Cashier: *pops her gum and sighs, then turns to start processing the sale*

Customer #1: “I would like to return these two items as they were the wrong size, and get these two instead.”

Cashier: *scans in the two new items, then adds the two old items, then presses the button to bring up the total*

Me: *since I can see the till’s screen* “Excuse me, you added her returns. You need to subtract them for a refund.”

Cashier: *gives me a look, and then looks at the screen. She heaves a huge exasperated sigh, and shrugs* “I don’t know how to do that.”

Me: “Okay. Press ‘delete’ once. Then ‘enter’ twice. Then, where it says ‘2,’ type ‘-2.’ Then press ‘enter’ twice.”

Cashier: *stares at me, popping her gum*

Me: “Just do it.”

Cashier: *another huge sigh, but does as told, and finishes the sale*

Customer #1: *to me* “Oh, thank you!”

Me: “No problem.”

(Customer #1 leaves, and I place my items at the till.)

Me: “On my account, please, under [My Name].”

Cashier: *ignores me and starts scanning the items*

Me: “No, no. I said on my ACCOUNT, please. You need to back up. Stop, and press ‘F5’ to get to the accounts screen to enter my name.”

Cashier: *presses a random button, causing it to go to an entirely different screen. She grunts and tosses her arms up in frustration* “I don’t know what to do!”

Me: “Calm down. Just abort the sale. Press ‘escape’ twice and hit ‘enter’ for yes to abort. It’s okay. Nothing bad will happen; it won’t throw off your till.”

Cashier: *looks at me, then does as told, bringing the till back to the first screen*

Me: “Now, let’s start again. Press ‘F5,’ then type [My Name]. Then ‘enter.’ Then you can process my items.”

Cashier: *she does so, and we quickly finish the sale*

Customer #2: *who has been standing behind me watching this entire thing* “Thank you SO much for helping her. We would have been here all day!”

Me: “It’s no problem, really. I used to work here, so I remember the buttons. It’s the same system so nothing has changed.”

Customer #2: *looks at me, then the cashier, then back at me* “…Can you stay while she does mine?”