A Snag at Trader Joe's

Sunday was a perfect day for me; Mass, breakfast with friends, taking pictures at the blessing of animals at Spirt of Christ and a beautiful drive to Boulder to the Trader Joe's store. I wandered up and down the aisle looking at the many different items that I cannot purchase at my local grocery store. The store was crowded, and I remember the warning my granddaughter gave me, "Don't shop at Trader Joe's on Sunday because it is always a mad house!" Each line had at least six persons waiting. The people patiently waited and when it was my turn the clerk began ringing up my items. Little did I know that my perfect day was about to end.

She then said, or I heard, "63.29" I made out the check, but she said, "It should be 62.39."  I did what I always do if I make a mistake.  I put a line through the error and initialed the error. She said that the machine would not accept the check. She asked that I write another check with the correct amount. I gave her the new check and she informed the machine would not accept my check. I said, "I wish to speak with a manager."  A young woman came up and fooled with the check and the register. She then called a young man. Their name tag had their name and crew member. I said, "I wanted to speak with a manager, and he said, "I am a manager." I then remembered that my granddaughter had told me only the managers wear the Hawaiian shirts. When I asked why his name tag had, "Crew Member" he said, "Because we are all crew members of Trader Joe's."

He also messed with the check and the register and could not get the machine to accept my check. He then said, "Let's move over to another register because I think there is something wrong with this register."  Three people in line moved to other registers. The people at the machine we moved to were asked to go to my original machine.  I apologized and the customer said, "No need for you to apologize, it's not your fault."

At the new machine the manager could not get it to accept my check. He then said, "If you give me a blank check, we can try letting the register print it out and then it may get accepted." I told him that it would be my third check and each check cost me money." By this time, I was tired of not being able to pay and feeling guilty about the people waiting in line, so I gave him a blank check. It was accepted and after 45 minutes, I was able to walk out of the store but not before he profusely apologized over and over again.

I think that the first clerk could have rung up the wrong amount and then given me the ninety cents difference but somehow, I think that youth only deal with computers and electronics and cannot figure out that their register would still balance if the change had been given to me. Giving the crew members the benefit of the doubt, I wondered if maybe they are not allowed to open their cash resisters. One crew member did say that he would not know what to do with a check because everyone uses a card. I was just happy to leave Trader Joe's with my groceries!

"Life is like a cash register,

in that every account

every thought, every deal,

like every sale, is registered

and recorded."

Fulton J. Sheen