I suspected something was afoot when the cashiers no longer had those convenient bag holders so they could drop in the soup cans and juice boxes without a thought. Now, they struggled to place the items in floppy plastic bags left in a pile beside them. They were frustrated, we were frustrated.
Later, I discovered management was discouraging the use of plastic bags to force customers to buy their reusable ones. Okay, that's fine with me. I'm into recycling. Problem is, I keep forgetting my reusable bags at home.
Next trip, we decide to try out the self-checkout. After all, they have a carousel simply chock-full of bags aching to be filled.
I scan the easy items first. The lovely lady in the box says, "Please place the item in the bag."
I place the item in the bag, apparently not fast enough. The lady says again, "Please place the item in the bag."
I mutter at the screen, "I DID put the goddamn item in the bag." I take the item out and put it back in.
"Please scan the item you placed in the bag."
Gah! I already did that! I hesitate. Speaker chick says, "Please check with the attendant."
I look at the attendant. She sits behind a podium, chewing gum and texting her classmates.
The speaker box lady finally shuts up and I proceed to the produce. I place a bag of red peppers on the scale. The touch screen shows a variety of items. Red peppers are not among them. I stumble my way through the whole produce department before finally locating the peppers somewhere in the squash family.
When all the bags in the carousel are filled, I choose my payment method. Debit card poised, I wait for the cue. "Please swipe your card, stripe in."
I swipe. Nothing. I swipe again. "Please see the attendant."
#@&^%$*
Next time, I'll remember my reusable bags and visit my friendly cashier.
