A true story during the time of the coronavirus: I venture into Stew Leonard’s (sort of the Wegmans of Connecticut) and am loading up on groceries since grocery shopping is such a miserable experience anymore and I prefer to do it as infrequently as possible. I am treating us well—adding lobster and other pricey items to the cart since we can’t go out anytime soon. Anyway, by the time I get through checkout, my bill is exactly $640–kind of Xmas and Thanksgiving combined. My original plan was to pay half in cash and charge the rest.
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Just as I am about to do that, the cashier two aisles over notifies my cashier that the charge card scanner machines appear not to be working. I pay $300 in cash and try two different credit cards and one debit card, and, indeed, the scanner cannot read them. Meanwhile, the line behind me grows longer.
I ask the cashier if there is an ATM in the store. There is. Fine, I will go get the remaining $340 and be right back.
The ATM only allows you to take $200 out, which I do. I return to my groceries, hand over the $200, and scrounge through the bottom of my purse and my pockets and come up with $99 more. So now I’ve paid $599 of a $640 bill. But there’s that remaining $41 I need to pay.
Maybe It’s Time for Bitcoin After All
Cashier asks if I use Apple Wallet. I do not. I ask if he can accept PayPal. He cannot. I don’t have my checkbook with me because who uses checks anymore?
I ask if there is a bank with an ATM in the plaza we are in. There is. I say great, I will go get cash there and be back. Meanwhile, the line behind me is growing longer. My youthful cashier tells me he is going to have to zero out my groceries and ring up everything again after I return with my $41.
I strongly disagree with that business decision and explain that I will not be waiting for him to ring up $640 worth of groceries a second time since the entire credit card scanning problem was the store’s issue, not a problem with my card. He tells me again he is going to zero out my bill and re-enter every item when I return.
My $41 Angel
I ask to speak to his manager, but the cashier says no because the manager is trying to fix the credit-card scanning problem! I suggest that the cashier just take back $41 worth of groceries. I start rooting around through all of my bags looking for big-ticket items like the lobster.
At this point, the woman behind me in line pays the $41 I owe. I ask if I can pay her after I go to the ATM, or PayPal payment to her, or send her the money if she doesn’t want to wait. She says no, tells me to pay it forward, and wishes me well!
So here’s to true random acts of kindness! And apparently I owe the universe $41.
For Bashful Adventurers
Stew Leonard’s as of this writing is offering curbside pickup for dinners you can order ahead. I tried it, and it’s worth the effort.
Have fun with corona fashion: I wear hats, gloves, scarves keeping as much skin surface as possible covered.
Stew Leonard’s, 99 Federal Road, Danbury, CT 06811
—Lori Tripoli
Lori Tripoli is the editor and publisher of Bashful Adventurer. Based in the New York City vicinity, she writes about travel for a variety of publications. Contact Lori at loritripoli @ bashfuladventurer.com.
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