Rage Against The Machine Is For Little Old Ladies

(I’m standing in line to buy a gift card from the ticket counter at a movie theater. There is only an older lady in front of me, while the cashier is serving another customer, as all the other patrons are using the ticket machines nearby. The lady, thinking to find a kindred soul, looks at me with a frown.)

Customer: “Ugh, machines. Nowadays everything has to be with machines!”

Me: “Well, they’re really practical for—”

Customer: “No! I don’t like using them!”

Me: “But they’re practical—”

Customer: “No!” *grumbles some more*

Me: “They’re practical for the people who can use them.”

(It’s her turn to the counter then, and I hear her grumble to the cashier. It takes some time, but eventually it’s my turn. While I wait for him to process the transaction, I comment on the old lady.)

Me: “It’s such a great thing that there are still people we can talk to!”

Cashier: “Yeah, I’ve been working in retail for a long time. I don’t question things anymore.”

Me: “I don’t think she realizes that she’d have to wait much longer if there weren’t machines.”