That Cashier Should Stretch Before Jumping To Conclusions Like That
I was doing some late-night grocery shopping at the hypermarket near my building, 50% because I forgot to do it during the day, and 50% because I wanted to check whether they had anything good marked down due to being about to expire — 60% off after 9:00 pm.
While checking out at the self-checkout, I had to split my purchase into two transactions. It seems the cashier overseeing the self-checkouts saw me put an item in my bag before scanning another two items and paying for them. She didn’t bother to check the camera recordings. Instead, she just smiled at me awkwardly as I left and then (apparently) called security.
As I had just exited the building, a security guard ran after me, shouting to the entire world:
Security: “Hey, you didn’t pay for something!”
I turned around to look at him.
Security: “Yes, you! You didn’t pay!”
Me: “Based on what?”
Security: “You didn’t pay!”
Me: “Let’s go check the cameras, shall we?”
Security: “Yeah, let’s go!”
We walked back to the self-checkouts. The security guy asked the cashier to pull my receipt so he could check what it was that I had allegedly shoplifted. The cashier couldn’t figure out which receipt on her screen was mine, so I pulled both of the paper receipts from my wallet and handed them to the security guy. He took them, read the time stamps, looked at me, looked at the receipts again, had a brainwave, and turned to speak to me.
Security: “You split your purchases into two transactions?”
Me: “Yes.”
He once again stared at the receipts, then the cashier, and then at the receipts again.
Security: “You have nothing else?”
Me: “Nothing else.”
He looked at the receipts again and looked at the cashier (who was making herself VERY busy staring at her screen) once more before handing my receipts back to me.
Security: “There seems to have been a misunderstanding. My apologies.”
I had been seething when he shouted that accusation at me — over a €1.05 packet of margarine, for f***’s sake — but I just wanted to get home before I said or did something I’d end up regretting, so I simply accepted the apology and left.
