Most of us have done it. (Not me, but I’m a stickler like that.)
Finding ourselves with an empty express lane at the grocery store, with one or two items over the limit, and going through it anyway. Not that big a deal. I’ve been behind it numerous times, and to the credit of humanity, about half the time the person will eye my one or two items and tell me to go ahead. Half the time I do, half the time I don’t – it all depends on my schedule, my mood, and my patience and understanding levels.
The other night I was in Price Chopper picking up three things and trying to get back as soon as possible (Andy was home dealing with a blood clot). I approached the 15-items-or-less line and found this woman with a full cart, and items still being scanned at the register. At first I thought maybe someone had quickly left the line and was running to retrieve something they forgot. There had to be more than one person with all these items. Nope. It was all her.
I stood there giving her the stink-eye, and she caught my gaze and gave it right back.
Oh no. Wrong story, wrong person.
I whipped out my phone and blatantly took a few photos. She caught me and I defiantly waited for her to say something. She didn’t. When her transaction was finally over and completed, she asked the cashier if he had gotten her ten-cent-off coupon. He said no, he forgot, and she said that he’d have to ring it all in again. He smiled and said she could go to customer service to get it corrected.
“Did you do that on purpose?†she asked.
Cleverly, he put a nice spin on it. “I just wanted to keep you here longer for your company.†She was skeptical and brought it to the manager on site, where she got her ten cents off. At this point the woman behind me was more riled up than I was.
I placed my three items down and asked the cashier how many items she actually had.
“About 32 or 33.â€
In a 15-items-or-less line?
This is why we can’t have nice things.
The woman behind me started muttering how rude people were and how no one follows the rules anymore. I was more amused than anything that someone would so boldly abuse the express lane when two other lanes were open. I don’t mind one or two extra items, or if you count five cans of soup as one item, but a full grocery cart of 32 items? No.
And so we arrive here, on her own blog post, on the small bulletin board of public shaming where so many Price Chopper incidents end up. It’s a new world. If you see something, say something.
