.......or the old lady who reaches into her purse and starts writing her check AFTER everything is bagged and the cashier tells her the amount.
It is not as if they don't know they are going to have to write a check. They also do the same thing if paying cash. They wait until the total then slowly begin searching in their purse for change. I have seen them literally take several minutes to count out the money.
A young man was walking through a supermarket to pick up a few things when he noticed an old lady following him around. Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her and continued on. Finally he went to the checkout line, but she got in front of him.
"Pardon me," she said, "I’m sorry if my staring at you has made you feel uncomfortable. It’s just that you look just like my son, who I haven’t seen in a long time."
"That’s a shame," replied the young man, "is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes," she said, "as I’m leaving, can you say ’Good bye, Mother!’ It would make me feel so much better."
"Sure," answered the young man.
As the old woman was leaving, he called out, "Good-bye, Mother!"
As he stepped up to the checkout counter, he saw that his total was $227.95.
"How can that be?" he asked, "I only purchased a few things!"
"Your mother said that you would pay for her," said the clerk.
I worked as a cashier once. There are a lot of stories, but this one takes the cake:
A lady came through with two suckers. The total was about 30 cents or so. She didn't have the money! So, she said "let me run out to the car!" This took about 10 minutes, and there was a long line of people waiting with carts full of groceries...and since the transaction was open already I could not close it to check them out. She came back in and said she didn't want the suckers anymore and took off...she did not apologize to me or the other customers. I had to then get a manager to void the transaction. That also reduced my rate of scans per minute greatly, so I got a bad rate of productivity on the cashier's report.
Yep I always get behind her too. But I think of my elderly parents and also the day that I will probably be doing the same thing. And I smile patiently.