In a reality that sometimes echoes the absurdity of a sitcom, the grocery store is my most frequented stage. Picture this: a busy grocery store teeming with shoppers but stricken with a bout of unfortunate decision making. I, shopping basket laden with a responsible number of items, certainly below the express lane limit, approach the checkout area.
Invisible drumroll please… and there it is: 1 single cashier-operated line and 1 express lane. That’s my grand spectrum of choices. But here’s the icing. In a store with 4 self-checkout stands, inexplicably, 2 were closed. The mathematician in me can’t comprehend the logic behind limiting capacity at peak shopping hours.
Was the store awaiting the arrival of late shift employees, perhaps? But what a foolish thought that was! I am the employee. I am the self-checkout labourer, scanning and bagging my items of necessity, essentially making the official store employees redundant. Here we are, customers lined up like ants carrying their load, and the establishment can’t even ensure all self-checkout stands are open. It doesn’t add up!
The purpose behind this establishment is surely streamlining business efficiency, but I’m stumped at how that’s achievable given the current circumstances. Add this incident to your ‘retail quirks’ collection, it shocks you how life often veers into the territory of “you can’t make this shit up.”
Credit Line: SpillByBill: reminding you that sometimes, reality is stranger than fiction!
