Part 1

Every two weeks I go to our local dollar store and buy 11 gallons of water for my fish tank water change. (Our well water keeps the PH too high.) The ladies that check me out are used to me, and they just scan one of my gallons 11 times. This evening I was purchasing water and some facial cream. For whatever reason, the facial cream was not available on the shelf, but there was a notice that I had to get it from the cashier.

I approached the counter and noticed that the cashier was a lady I’d never seen before.

“I have water,” I said, “and I also want some Neutrogena facial cream.”

She stared at me.

“It…says I have to get it from the cashier.” I stammered.

She turned slowly to observe the shelves behind her. “It must be back here.” She perused the shelves as I described the boxes -- which she was standing directly in front of -- that I wanted. Almost immediately she put her hand on one of them.

“That’s it! And the one next to it.” I said. However, she remained frozen for a good long time, even as I described in detail the appearance of the boxes I wanted. Once she was satisfied she had selected the correct items, I had to wait another good while for her to move the boxes behind my chosen boxes into their place and arrange the display as it had been.

She returned with the boxes, eyed my gallons of water and said, "How many do you have?"

"Eleven," I replied, setting one on the conveyer belt.

She looked at me. "I have to scan them all."

"Oh," I said in some surprise. "Normally they just scan one eleven times. I buy these all the time." However, I kept a smile as I began unloading the waters onto the conveyer belt.

"We aren't allowed to do that anymore," she said firmly.

"Oh, ok." I said. I continued unloading the gallons. "Why is that? Is it so I can't accuse you of charging me eleven times for one item?"

I had meant this as a joke (as my smile should have indicated), but she did not seem to find it funny. She stared at me until I regretted opening my mouth. Thinking perhaps that the cashiers hadn’t been told why, I erased my smile and asked, hesitantly, “Do you know why?”

She continued staring at me as she scanned the waters. A minute or so later, she replied, “Yes, I know why.” And she said nothing more.

Apparently, I had crossed the line by probing into a Cashier Black Ops situation.

I remained respectfully quiet as I paid for my items, and just as I was about to leave, she said, “You have a nice day…and the reason we have to scan them all is because we have such a high turnover. We have so many new people and we don’t want them going “Scan…back…scan…back…” and she demonstrated passing a gallon through, then reversing it for a second scan, and so on…

Pretending this was a perfectly logical explanation, I smiled, “Oh that’s fine – it doesn’t bother me,” then I wished her a good evening and left.

So maybe I’m missing something, but it never made any sense to me. I don’t mind having to scan each gallon 11 times – I mind not being prepared for the cashier’s strange reaction to my mild curiosity. But oh well, just some more weirdness for fodder.



.