The Line Part Two

Yesterday we left a man standing in the twenty items or less express line with his sole item for purchase. With his butter in hand, he watched as an older lady slowly counted her items out of her basket and was having conversations with the cashiers as she placed them on the conveyer belt.

He watched as she put soap on the counter, then popcorn. It took everything within him to restrain from going around the person in front of him and pulling all her items out of her basket for her. One by one she counted them, and then counted them again. “Sixteen, seventeen...,” he overheard her say, and then she asked the cashier, “Now was I on sixteen or seventeen?” While the man nearly blew it because he was watching as the last person that was in the longer line he chose not to step into was now leaving the store. The cashier said, “That is seventeen, ma'am.” “Oh good,” the woman responded. “Now I have at least three more before I hit the limit.”

The man began to tap his foot, and although the longer line was now refilled with people, he began to wonder if the longer line would take a shorter time than this express one. The lady continued to count as she placed her items on the counter, “Eighteen, nineteen...” She paused for a moment when she realized that there were at least five more items in her cart. “Oh, it seems that I have a few more items than the twenty. Is that going to be a problem?” she asked the cashier. “Ma'am, this is a twenty item express lane, but if you will hurry and put them on the counter I will let you go this time. There are people waiting behind you.” The woman looked a bit embarrassed, but apologized and began counter her items one more time. “Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two...”

The man knew he was growing furious. He looked at a clock and he had now been in the store for over eighteen minutes and sixteen of them were spent standing in this express line. He began to tap his foot. He grimaced his face. He started to yell at the woman, but knew that would probably cause a scene, and then he watched as she put her twenty-third, fourth and fifth item on the counter. “I have only two more, “ the woman exclaimed as she noticed the gum rack beside the register. “Do you suppose I could add a couple packages of gum to this?” she asked the cashier. “Yes ma'am,” the cashier responded, “but you must hurry. The line behind you is getting very long.” “Oh, I'm sorry.”the woman said to the cashier and then to the people behind her. “I will be much quicker now.”

The cashier gave her the total, “Fifty eight dollars and twenty nine cents,” and the woman began complaining about how much prices had increased. “Why back in nineteen forty eight we could have bought every item in here for just under three dollars,” the woman said as she began digging into her purse for her payment. It was then the man noticed that she was pulling out her checkbook.

The story will continue...

Until tomorrow...Why Say More?