29toLIFE

Whenever I go to the mall, every transaction at every store ends in pretty much the same way. I go to swipe my debit card, see pen marks on the little touch screen, look at the person behind the counter, he/she looks back at me, I say, “Really?”, shake my head and we both share a good laugh. Happens every time.

But, really, who are these idiots?

I could understand if this were 1999 and people were still getting used to the idea of these credit card reader things, but it’s TWO THOUSAND-FUCKING-ELEVEN! We’re so far into the age of technology that the DVD player is almost on its way out. My mom owns a smart phone. My dad watches baseball on his computer. At this point, you can’t even blame it on old people, because even they should be able to understand how the checkout process works by now.

Try putting yourself inside the mind of the person signing a touch screen with a real pen. You can’t even do it. Common sense and a rudimentary knowledge of the ink-to-paper process we all went through in middle school won’t allow you to do something that stupid. What, exactly, did that person think was going to happen once he/she got the ink on the screen? Where was it supposed to go from there? Do stores have giant filing cabinets in the back where they keep all of the previously signed tablet receipts? That would seem like a terrible waste of precious space that could be better used for inventory.

The person who signs one of those screens with a pen might as well just take the pen and sign the counter. It would make just as much sense.