I had to make some purchases at Wal-Mart last night, and of course what I dreaded most was the checkout line. Little did I know that tonight the checkout line was going to be a little different.
I had just stopped just to pick up a few items needed for the evening meal, and I was in a hurry to get home so my lovely bride could cook up supper. After I had gathered everything, I raced to the checkout area hoping to find that mythical "shortest line." By the way, I have learned to avoid the "speedy" checkout lines that limit the purchase to twenty items or less. Why? Because Wal-Mart high management has made the election to put the slowest, least-skilled, most poorly trained cashiers in the speedy checkout lanes, thus making the speedy lanes actually the slowest lanes in the store, but that is another story.
So I raced to a REGULAR checkout line that only had three people in it. The first person was nearly finished being checked-out, the second person only had a few items, and the third person was a young girl, no older than ten or eleven, who had only one item - a really big candy bar. So I was more than happy to get into this line, because it was a regular checkout line with a regular checkout clerk.
The first lady in line was finished just a few minutes after I walked up, and the clerk began competently checking out the second person. Not a single missing bar code, not one "price check on register 13," just a quick efficient checkout. Then it was the young girl's turn. She was very nicely dressed and was reminiscent of Lindsey Lohan in "Parent Trap II." She had a very large yellow purse slung very lady-like over her right shoulder. And she was so cute, so grown-up acting. She placed her candy bar on the conveyor, then placed one of those separator sticks on the conveyor so that I could begin unloading my shopping cart.
The cashier rang up the candy bar. "That will be $1.65 please," said the cashier (who was also cute -thanks Wal-Mart). The very grown-up young lady opened her over-sized purse and took out a large wallet, appropriate to the size of the purse. When the young lady opened the wallet, I could see that there were no credit cards or other documents one would usually see in a wallet. It was then that I realized the young girl's mother had probably given her the purse and the wallet. The young lady took out a one dollar bill, then opened the change pocket of the wallet and, after some difficulty, removed a quarter. She began really shaking the wallet then, but no more change came out.
The young lady then started really digging hard into the wallet, eventually producing a total of thirty-five cents. She was thirty cents short. Never losing one bit of her lady-like poise, the young girl said, "This is all I have. My mom is just over there and I will get some money from her." The cashier said, "That's fine. All you need is thirty cents." So I said, "Miss, I can help you pay for that." She looked at me and said, "Yes...if you don't mind." So I reached into my pocket and pulled out couple of quarters.
Just then a grown woman, whom I rightly assumed was the young girl's mother, came over and asked how much the young lady needed. The cashier said "thirty cents." The mother produced the needed cash and the young lady got her candy bar. Then she turned to me and very sweetly said, "I am sorry for holding you up." I told her that it was quite alright.
As the mother and daughter walked away and I took my turn at the checkout line, the cashier said, "She was sooo CUTE!" I agreed with her. The cashier than apologized for the delay, and I said it was quite alright. My only regret was that I did not video the young lady as she made her transaction and place it on Facebook. But in the interest of not alarming the girl's parents, I did not do so. Nonetheless, this was one of those few times when waiting in the checkout line at Wal-Mart definitely had its moment.
And God Bless America
I had just stopped just to pick up a few items needed for the evening meal, and I was in a hurry to get home so my lovely bride could cook up supper. After I had gathered everything, I raced to the checkout area hoping to find that mythical "shortest line." By the way, I have learned to avoid the "speedy" checkout lines that limit the purchase to twenty items or less. Why? Because Wal-Mart high management has made the election to put the slowest, least-skilled, most poorly trained cashiers in the speedy checkout lanes, thus making the speedy lanes actually the slowest lanes in the store, but that is another story.
So I raced to a REGULAR checkout line that only had three people in it. The first person was nearly finished being checked-out, the second person only had a few items, and the third person was a young girl, no older than ten or eleven, who had only one item - a really big candy bar. So I was more than happy to get into this line, because it was a regular checkout line with a regular checkout clerk.
The first lady in line was finished just a few minutes after I walked up, and the clerk began competently checking out the second person. Not a single missing bar code, not one "price check on register 13," just a quick efficient checkout. Then it was the young girl's turn. She was very nicely dressed and was reminiscent of Lindsey Lohan in "Parent Trap II." She had a very large yellow purse slung very lady-like over her right shoulder. And she was so cute, so grown-up acting. She placed her candy bar on the conveyor, then placed one of those separator sticks on the conveyor so that I could begin unloading my shopping cart.
The cashier rang up the candy bar. "That will be $1.65 please," said the cashier (who was also cute -thanks Wal-Mart). The very grown-up young lady opened her over-sized purse and took out a large wallet, appropriate to the size of the purse. When the young lady opened the wallet, I could see that there were no credit cards or other documents one would usually see in a wallet. It was then that I realized the young girl's mother had probably given her the purse and the wallet. The young lady took out a one dollar bill, then opened the change pocket of the wallet and, after some difficulty, removed a quarter. She began really shaking the wallet then, but no more change came out.
The young lady then started really digging hard into the wallet, eventually producing a total of thirty-five cents. She was thirty cents short. Never losing one bit of her lady-like poise, the young girl said, "This is all I have. My mom is just over there and I will get some money from her." The cashier said, "That's fine. All you need is thirty cents." So I said, "Miss, I can help you pay for that." She looked at me and said, "Yes...if you don't mind." So I reached into my pocket and pulled out couple of quarters.
Just then a grown woman, whom I rightly assumed was the young girl's mother, came over and asked how much the young lady needed. The cashier said "thirty cents." The mother produced the needed cash and the young lady got her candy bar. Then she turned to me and very sweetly said, "I am sorry for holding you up." I told her that it was quite alright.
As the mother and daughter walked away and I took my turn at the checkout line, the cashier said, "She was sooo CUTE!" I agreed with her. The cashier than apologized for the delay, and I said it was quite alright. My only regret was that I did not video the young lady as she made her transaction and place it on Facebook. But in the interest of not alarming the girl's parents, I did not do so. Nonetheless, this was one of those few times when waiting in the checkout line at Wal-Mart definitely had its moment.
And God Bless America
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