Crazy thing happened at the checkout line of the grocery store just today. Most of the lines were open and busy, but the line next to me happened to be closed. This old woman shuffled up with her cart, looking distracted but not senile or anything, and after seeing how long my line was chose instead to go to the register next to me. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that no one was running it, and began loading her groceries onto the conveyor belt. After giving her ample time to just let her realize her mistake on her own, I finally went over and pointed out that no one was working that register. She shrugged and said, "Honey, if I just wait here long enough they'll send someone over eventually." And she meant it. She sat there, paging through magazines, and was still waiting when I left.

As I sat at the wrong register 4 people deep tonight, I pondered what it would take for me to abandon my cart. The math was all wrong.

10 minutes to wait.

Versus 10 minutes to drive to the next market. 45 more minutes to fill another cart. 5 minutes to check out.

yeah, jay's full of shit....in my opinion.

Right, you gotta get some satisfaction at least, like overturning the whole cart full of groceries right there in the middle of the floor, wait for a manager to show up and then spit in his face, walk to your car and casually drive off, as a gaggle of angry employees charge into a delayed reaction, racing into the parking lot, beating on your windows and vociferously demanding something unspecified, as you skip to the chillest track on your favorite Steely Dan CD and fire up a big fat joint. What is this town coming to?

I think the correct way to go would have been to just wheel the cart out of the store if the queue was that long. I'm sure they'd have been pretty quick to serve at that point. :)

Sounds like a scene out of a movie. Were you a screenwriter in the 80's, Flint? ;)

" . . . starring Christopher Walken . . "

what's with the ten minute wait at the checkout? I've waited way longer than ten minutes before now when the store's full.

Screw the math, if they piss me off, I'll even leave it on the belt. There is no price for abuse. :headshake
But 9 times out of 10, it's the shoppers rather than the store, screwing up.