It was extremely hot in the DC area yesterday. Our new housing area has a pool and it was lovely to cool off there. Then the thunder came and we had to leave the pool. Often, after a thunderstorm it cools down, but not after this one. It just made it steamy and even more uncomfortable. So, I decided to go to the grocery store to get some cool drinks. Everything went smoothly until it was time to check out. There was only one person ahead of me. He was likely in his late 40s early 50s, and appeared hispanic. He was almost done. Almost. All his items had been rung up, he knew what the total was and he had elected to pay by credit card. All he had to do was slide his card. He already had the card postioned at the reader. The problem was that his cell phone rang, and he answered it. This was the limit of his mental power apparently. He was discussing the merits of what brand of milk to buy, and he could not slide his card. He just stood there, with his mouth half open and his card tantalizingly close to the reader. Every so often, he would pause during his discussions of paseteurization and homogenization and glance down at the card reader, but that was it. Just a glance, he couldn't actually go forward with the transaction. This went on for probably 3-4 minutes, but it was infuriating because he was wasting my time, the cashier's time and the bagger's time. We all stared at him in disbelief.
Perhaps it was because I was hot and tired, or perhaps because this guy was both a moron and incredibly rude, but I actually said something. I told him to hang up the phone and swipe the damn card, but it didn't have any effect. Fortunately, another register opened and I was able to use that one. When I left the store, he was still just standing there, talking on his phone, card still held up, slack jawed and on the phone.
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