She Has No Money But All The Time In The World

(I call in at a small, family-run supermarket on the way home from work. It’s a tiny shop with only one till. I am in a long queue; there is a woman being very slow to pay. The girl in front of me, about thirty, is tutting at how long the woman in front of us is taking. She finally reaches the register.)

Customer: “Hello. I need to do this in two separate transactions.” *puts two bottles of drinks down*

Cashier: “Oh, that’s fine.” *scans through the first two items* “£2, please.”

(The girl then spends a good two minutes looking through her handbag for her purse. The queue is growing and hits the back of the shop.)

Customer: *finally hands over £2* “I will need a receipt and a bag.” 

(The girl then gives her second lot of items: a sandwich and cake. She takes the same amount of time to find her debit card as before. She taps her debit card.)

Cashier: “Sorry, your card has been declined.”

Customer: “Yeah, I know; I’ve got no money in that account.”

(I sighed. The cashier looked pained. By this time, three people had abandoned their shopping and left the queue. She finally found a working debit card and paid. I quickly paid and ran to my car. The girl was sat in her car, blocking two cars in, happily eating her sandwich and drinking the drink she purchased in the separate transaction.)