Did She Really Just Say That?

I ran to the Dollar Store for paper towels today. While I waited five minutes for the new cashier to check out the five items the lady ahead of me had, I was entertained by the lady's unruly children who were sticking their hands up the bubble gum machine, whining about wanting a quarter, and unsticking push pins holding up ads on the cork board. Oh, the joy.

When the slow woman attending the cash register finally started ringing up my three items, I was a little worn by the previous few minutes of waiting and watching such lame behavior. When the rocket scientist announced my total, "$9.76" I handed her my twenty dollar bill, and said, "Oh, just wait, I have a penny."

TO WHICH SHE REPLIED, "Oh, I already rang it up. I don't know how to go backwards on this."

What? It was all I could do to ask her if she knew how to add a penny to twenty-four cents to give me back a quarter with my ten dollar bill in change. She actually paused the transaction to ask me if that was okay. What? If it's not okay she's going to call a manager over to start the transaction over again?!?

Man! I expect this kind of blundering with cash from high school kids who have had computers, calculators, and adding machines do all of their arithmetic, but not from a woman my own age! I get that she is new. I get that she was nervous. I don't get how your brain freezes up so much that you can't realize that a penny added to twenty-four cents would give a customer back a quarter. And I don't believe that giving a customer change other than what is rung up is against the rules. It's a small town dollar store, for crying out loud. Plus, I've had other cashiers there give me quarters when I handed them a penny belatedly in the transaction.

I'm disappointed.