Should Val find herself in Not-Heaven for eternity, with no electricity, flush toilets, internet, drinking water, showers, nor refrigeration... and then miraculously get a reprieve, the likelihood is that she would then find herself in line at a convenience store to buy scratchers. And that line would move at the pace of an arthritic nonagenarian snail. Like the line at the School-Turn Casey's on Wednesday.
Only one register was working. Somewhat. Gotta give credit to the clerk. He was as cheerful with each customer as humanly possible. No matter how doddering and infuriating they might be. Explaining to each that the card-scanner was not working properly, and they would need to insert their card and go through the process THREE TIMES, at which point it might work.
Three people were ahead of me. That's not bad for that store. The Pony has been lined up around the corner to the bathrooms, when trying to get a snack on his work break, in danger of his scanner calling him out for being stationary for too long. Really. How long could it take for three people to check out at a convenience store? That's not a rhetorical question. The answer is 16 minutes.
I thought I was going to grow a long white beard, have time to braid it, then turn it into some futuristic pattern like a resident of The Capitol of Panem in The Hunger Games.
The first guy was a middle-aged man in shorts, paying for gas and a fountain drink and a slice of pizza and some things in a bag. If you need a bag at a convenience store, you have bought too much! He dutifully shoved his card in the reader three times. It worked.
The second lady was old, with a 44 oz fountain drink that was green in color and looked quite refreshing. She was also there for scratchers. She fell out of favor by asking the clerk, "What number is number 15 on?" When he told her number one, she took it. Then she asked, "What number is number 20 on?" When she found out it was number fifty-four, she didn't want it. So took a number 13 instead. Her total was $11.90. She tried her card three times. Nope. Didn't work. So she paid cash. Finally.
The third guy was an old man. He seemed a bit restless while waiting. Like maybe his knees hurt as bad as mine. He leaned on the counter a couple times, making me jealous that I was not close enough to do that. He had his card ready in his hand to pay for his gas. Oh, and he also got two PowerBall draw tickets. His card didn't work. So he got out his billfold to pay cash. Not sure of his total, but he got $2 back in change. Which he not-so-promptly slid one by one into his trifold wallet while resting it on the counter, before double-folding it and shoving it into his back pocket.
That clerk was as polite to me as if he'd just come on shift after hearing that a raise was imminent. I was shocked that there was not a line behind me. However, only two people had entered the store after me, both young men, together, who were either price-comparison shopping, or stealing Casey's blind.
Of course I paid with cash winning scratchers. No cards for Val in an inconvenience store.
They REALLY, REALLY need to do something about those card readers. Do you keep a little pack of lens wipes in your purse at all? You can put one of those over the magnetic strip, just fold it and slip the card into the fold, then swipe the whole shebang through the reader a couple of times, run it back and forth and it cleans the reader, which should then work. The staff should be doing that in the store each morning.
ReplyDeleteNot my monkey, not my circus! Even if I DID carry my purse into a convenience store, and even if I DID keep a little pack of lens wipes in it, it's not my duty to clean card readers that I'm not even going to use.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that just showing up for a shift is all that management is concerned with the staff doing at this Casey's. More on that topic tomorrow...