The Sign Said Ten Items or Less
If there was any doubt that I was cranky it was erased by a trip to Target. I was the second person in line, the ten items or less line. A simple concept, the ten items or less line.
It was created to help speed the checkout process. It was created so that people who wanted to just run in to pick up a couple of items could do so. It is an incentive that says you don’t have to wait to shop until you have a huge laundry list of items.
Today I only had three items to pick up, but after having undergone a day in which it felt I had survived the 12 Tasks of Hercules I was not inclined to wait long. I didn’t have it in me. But as there was only one person in front of me I wasn’t too concerned, until I saw her cart.
Call me cranky, call me anal, call me what you will but I knew with a glance that she had 11 items in her cart. Eleven freaking items, not 10, but 11 and if you counted the 12 pack of Pepsi it was so far over the limit to be ridiculous.
I was almost apoplectic, but I managed to take a deep breath and reel myself back in. It really wasn’t worth getting upset about nor did it require spitting blood and breathing fire. Those were things for earlier in the day, but is a story for a different time.
~ Stacy ~ January 20, 2006 at 8:00 pm
C’mere Jack,
Sounds like you need a hug. (smile)
You know, aside from the “over item” shoppers, I usually avoid the speedy check-out because that’s where they tend to stick the slowest clerks. If I’m in a hurry, I just look for whichever line appears to be moving quickly.
~ Stacy ~
Air Time January 19, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Jack =- I refuse to stop at stores that won’t enforce their ten items or less policy.
Mirty January 19, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Jack, it was me. I always round down. If I have 12 items, I say, “That rounds out to 10.”
Gavriel January 19, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Maybe she works with computers and thought “10” was in base 16, hex. In this digital age, the store really should specify they mean 10 in base 10, decimal.
I know how frustrating that can be.
Here in Israel, the Hebrew translation of “10 items or less” works out to be something like “approximately 10 items or at least less than a cartful, unless your judgement tells you that no one minds, or if you know the cashier and would use up the extra time chatting anyway.”
Yeah, I hate that.