Don’t Try To Consider The Inconsiderate

I work as a cashier at a well-known local grocery store. I just started this job about a month ago to help with my depression, and it’s been really good for me. However, situations like this make me wonder how people can be so stupid.

I’m serving two middle-aged men when a young woman on her phone comes up and begins to put her stuff on the belt. I don’t see her as I’m talking with the two men while bagging their stuff, as we’re short on baggers at the moment. She puts her stuff right next to the men’s stuff with no divider or anything. She has lots of peppers, and I begin to put them in, thinking they are the men’s.

Man: “Um, those aren’t ours.”

Me: “Oh, sorry!”

I then saw the woman and groaned internally. I’d had plenty of people come through on their phones that day. She hadn’t even noticed I’d scanned her stuff. I removed the peppers and the men paid and I wished them a good day. The woman stared at me expectantly while still on her phone right as the men left. I asked for her rewards phone number, but she looked away and didn’t reply.

As I scanned her things, she put her card in the chip reader and stared at the screen, expecting something to happen. With our system, the customer can only pay when I’m done scanning. I told her this. She rolled her eyes and continued talking on her phone. I finished and asked if she would like to round up to the nearest dollar for a local food bank. She didn’t reply and I just went ahead and let her pay. It still confuses me how some people can be so inconsiderate.