Putting The “Eat” Into “Defeat”

I worked in a health food store back in the 1970s. We sold natural and organic foods along with vitamins, etc. The stores were just a little larger than your average convenience store, and this particular store was on the smaller side; you could see the entire store, front to back, from anywhere in the store.

A young woman was strolling around the store, casually looking at what we sold. One of the more popular items the company sold was something called a “Super Snack”, which was a package containing peanuts, raisins, and other nuts and seeds. This woman took one, opened it, and started eating it while she wandered around the store.

After about fifteen minutes, she came to the register to check out. She bought three fairly inexpensive items that totaled about $6.25. I noticed that she had finished off her bag of “Super Snacks” and had apparently ditched the empty bag somewhere because it wasn’t with her.

I rang her up and told her what her total came to. It’s worth noting that she and I were the only two people in the store at the time; the manager was out in the back room.

Me: “Okay, that will be $7.45.”

Customer: “I thought these totaled, like, ah…” *pauses briefly, adding it up in her head* “…like, $6.25? What’s the extra $1.20 for?”

Me: “It’s for that bag of ‘Super Snacks’ you were eating while you were walking around the store.”

Customer: “Oh.”

She didn’t argue the point; she just paid, took her stuff, and left. Yeah, lady, nailed you! You eat it, you pay for it.