Gumming Up The Works With Gum
My husband and I have just finished picking out shoes to buy. We get in line at the checkout. A cashier with no line calls to us.
Cashier: *Waves* “Hey! I can take you over here!”
We walk to the cashier and put our shoeboxes on the counter.
Cashier: “Did you find everything okay?”
The cashier opens our shoeboxes to make sure everything is there, and a father and preteen son enter the store and walk the wrong way through our checkout line. The son spots a container of gum on the counter.
Son: “Dad! They have gum!”
Father: “How much is it?”
Son: “Fifteen cents.”
Failing to see that the cashier is already in the middle of a transaction, the father takes a piece of gum out of the container, tosses a quarter onto the counter, and walks away without waiting for change. The son also fishes a piece out of the container.
Son: “Is this good?”
Cashier: “Actually, it’s pretty bad…”
The son hands over a quarter.
Cashier: “Wait, I need to give you and your dad change.”
Son: “That’s okay!”
The son walks away.
Cashier: *To us* “Sorry about that.” *Continues to ring us up* “They have no idea what a pain it is to pay for something with a quarter and not wait for change.”
Husband: “Oh? You can’t keep it as a tip?”
Cashier: “It has to go into a pool, with a note explaining why I didn’t give exact change.”
Husband: “Wow. That really isn’t worth it.”