When Not Reading The Sign Is The Inaction That Has Consequences

I worked at a major pet store, and we’d get pretty busy on the weekends. We had four registers total and would run them all during the Saturday rush.

One day, our card system went down in a strange way. It WOULD process the credit cards, but it would literally take about four minutes from card swipe to approval. That really adds up.

We were informed by corporate that they were working on the problem, but it was likely to last for hours.

Our boss wisely did everything possible. She put a sign in great big red letters about the problem and hung it on the door. She put a sign on one of our registers up high, so it was visible from the floor that it was a cash-only register. She put a sign on the column near the register that this register was cash only. 

She put me on the cash-only register because she knew I wasn’t easily intimidated. She told me that under no circumstances was I to accept cards at that register.

The lines were LONG. It could literally take someone over thirty minutes to get through a credit card line. But, of course, the cash only one is moving right along. So people would see that and move from the credit card lines to my line. They’d get to the front, and I’d tell them it was cash only.

Customer: “Your other line was taking too long!”

Customer: “I’ve only got one thing!”

Customer: “I’m in a hurry!”

Nope. Sorry. Go back to the other line.

Early on, I made the mistake of telling one customer that I could run cards, but my system was messing up like the others. They reached out their card to me. I said no.

Customer: “You just told me you could take it!”

Me: “I won’t.”

Customer: “I’ll get the manager!”

Me: “Who do you think told me to refuse the card?”

Rinse and repeat this scenario for hours.

I admit I took a lot of pleasure in telling people that tried to cut or just didn’t read the multiple bright red signs they had to pass that “nope, don’t care if you’re at the front of this line, go to the back of that one.”