For my evening job, I bring along something to eat, so I don’t end up passing out, or worse, getting really grouchy around 8pm. So, on my way there on Thursday, I stopped at a nearby grocery store to get a little snack. First, the sandwiches were ridiculously expensive-$4.99 for tuna on Wonderbread. Eff that. So I picked out a small salad, a bun, a banana, gingerale and some gum, then got in line in the express lane (1-8 items, bag your own). Key word “EXPRESS”. It’s supposed to mean fast, right?
The lady in front of me had more than 8 items, but really, if the cashier is fast, 2 extra things isn’t the end of the world. The woman first asks the cashier if they take American cash.
Cashier: “Yes, we do, but nothing over $20 bills.”
Blank look.
Lady: “But do you take American?”
Cashier:”Yes, but not 50′s or 100′s, just 20′s and lower.”
Difficult concept, right? This went back and forth a couple more times, until the customer pulled out a twenty dollar bill, and was told that it was fine.
Ok. So her groceries are rung through and the total is $41.67. Lady hands cashier ONE twenty dollar bill. Yes, American money, in Canada, but still, only twenty dollars.
Cashier:”Your total is $41.67.” And gestures at the screen where the total is prominently displayed.
The lady stares at the screen and shrugs a bit, fishes in her wallet and passes another twenty dollar bill to the cashier. And stops. Again, the cashier (who I have to say was incredibly patient) repeats the total. This is when the lady starts getting a little huffy, and I asked if there wasn’t some form of exchange rate for American money. No, it’s at par. Ok.
Cashier:”You still owe me $1.67.”
Lady, rummaging in her wallet:”I don’t have it.”
Cashier:”Then you will have to pick something from your groceries and I will take it off the bill.”
Lady:”What? Why?”
Cashier:”Because it’s $41.67 and you don’t have enough money.”
So the woman tells her to take the cake off the bill, a $15 cake. Cashier hands her back the $40, takes the cake off the bill, tells her the new total (which I don’t actually remember, but I think was $23 and change).
Lady hands her ONE twenty dollar bill. Cashier repeats total.
Lady:”But I have enough money for the cake now!”
Cashier:”No. You don’t. I took it off the bill, now you have enough to cover the REST of your groceries.”
Lady finally hands over second twenty and we all have to wait for the cashier to get an over ride on her till. Lady gets her change and just…stands there. The cashier rang me through quickly, and I had to excuse myself to get past the woman, who is standing there staring blankly at the cashier, who, finally, tells her she needs to bag her own groceries. I bag mine and rush out of the mall in a bit of a rage.
Now. I don’t really understand what was going on here. This happened at Yonge and Eglinton, a nice area of Toronto. The lady was nicely dressed, had both shoes on, had a decent hair do, was about middle aged. I couldn’t really hear her, but she might have had an accent. The cashier looked South-East Asian and did have an accent, but was perfectly understandable and did her job quickly and efficiently. She was very polite, patient and clear. I couldn’t tell if there was some language barrier thing going on, or if this woman just had NO idea how to use money. I think there may still be some weird aristocratic people left in the world who just never do that sort of thing. But then, she was buying produce, onions and peppers and stuff, so she must have SOME idea on how to cook. So it’s just hard to say. And I admit I was totally pissed off at the time, because the clock was ticking and I didn’t want to be late for work. Now I think it was just bizarre. And I am glad I witnessed it.
I was doing fine until I got to the, “had both shoes on” and then I started to laugh. And laugh.