Self-Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself, Part 5

The local grocery store is a fairly small one. The self-checkout section has a grand total of two stations. I go in one weekend at a naturally busy time. The store’s understaffed and the lines for both self-check and manned registers are long.

As luck would have it, one of the self-checks is down. [Man #1] is using it, and when he runs his card, it crashes the entire system. After a cashier moves him to a manned register, the other self-check becomes free and I step up to it.

The cashier comes to the crashed self-check, puts solid plastic signs over the screen and scanner that say, “Out Of Order”, and walks away.

[Man #2], who was behind me in line, proceeds up to that register.

Man #2: “Why does this say, ‘Out Of Order’? There was a guy just using it.”

Me: “I think it crashed when he went to pay, and they haven’t rebooted it yet.”

I turn away and start scanning my items. I get through two before he speaks again.

Man #2: “This thing isn’t working!”

The cashier who helped [Man #1] comes over after hearing him.

Cashier: “It’s out of order. I put signs up.”

I was first in line when the register crashed. [Man #2], right behind me, would’ve seen them bring [Man #1]’s items over to another register and the cashier put the signs up.

Man #2: “Yeah, I saw those. I took them off.”

He proceeded to put his groceries back in his cart and huff off.

Relate:
Self-Check Yourself Before You Self-Wreck Yourself, Part 4
Self-Check Yourself Before You Self-Wreck Yourself, Part 3
Self-Check Yourself Before You Self-Wreck Yourself, Part 2
Self-Check Yourself Before You Self-Wreck Yourself