August 11, 2008

"Thank you for your patience, ma'am."

It gets me every time. No matter what store I go to, no matter what city I'm in, I always pick the wrong check-out line. The answer to why I have inherited this seeming-curse has yet to be revealed to me.
Today I was in one of my favorite stores. I had one item in my hands to purchase, and I wanted to get out quickly so that I could escape to my beloved coffee house which was playing live music. I wanted to run in, purchase my item, and leave.

No such luck.

Using my logic, I picked the shortest line. There was ONE man who had ONE item: an air mattress. How long could that possibly take? So I join the line and hold my precious 7-pack of underwear (for a friend, okay? don't ask....) to my chest so as to avoid possible embarrassment. All goes well until the sales clerk asks the question that is habitually ingrained in her mind, "Would you like to save ten percent by signing up for a membership card?"
I have wondered how many people actually say yes in answer to this question. Personally, I feel like saying no just because she had the audacity to ask me. Horrible, I know. But....despite all odds, our gentleman answers in the affirmative. The clerk reaches up to turn off the light that illuminates the illustrious number three above our heads. She looks at me and says "I'm going to be a while ma'am."
I smile politely and reply, "That's okay." Being the somewhat ignorant and stubborn person that I am I convince myself that filling out a membership form couldn't possibly take more than two minutes. Oi vey.
After about two minutes I had set my purchase on the conveyor-belt-thingy. I really didn't care anymore. Nearly twenty minutes later I emerged from the store with my precious underwear.

Moral of the story: don't go into a store in a hurry. At least I shouldn't. It's just silly.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

[sigh]
how i've missed reading your blog!!
i'm sitting in las vegas for two hours, waiting for my plane to boise to arrive.
you have made my dreaded layover somewhat entertaining :)

August 16, 2008 at 6:16 PM  
Blogger JML said...

That's really funny! I throw tantrums at those moments, with loud words and fists shaking. It's really unfortunate!

August 17, 2008 at 7:37 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home