On Saturday, I went to a shopping at Stop & Shop.
I bought several items including 2 cereal boxes and 2 pints of Haagen Dazs.
I went to the self-service checkout line with coupons: 1 for cereal and 1 for icecream.
A big problem arose. The scanner failed to read either coupons.
Without the coupons, my total expense will be above $50 which is my upper limit.
I asked one of the employees near me for help.
She typed in the numbers into the machine because it was failed to be scanned.
Then she asked me "How many cereal boxes do you buy?"
I replied "Two."
She showed me the coupon. "This coupon is valid for at least 3 cereal boxes of purchase."
"Oh...I didn't see it carefully!!"
How nice she was! She made this valid even though I only purhcased 2.
While I'm feeling happy about this, she showed me another invalid coupon and said:
"This coupon is for at least 4 icecreams. This is absurd. Who the hell will ever buy 4!"
Again, she made this valid for me.
She was so nice. I feel fortunate that I still have human interaction at the shop.
If it was 100% computerized environment, my coupons would be mercilessly rejected.
So I probably had no chance to feel happy at the end of the transaction.
I hope people foresee 100% computerized society is actually a cruel world.
By the way, I often buy 4 icereams. I didn't do so this time because of the budget limit.
I used to collect coupons but after a while I realized I was buying unnecessary stuff just so I can use the coupons. So I do not pay much attention to them these days. Got to be really smart to use coupon and get a real good deal. Anyway, it is always nice to have real person to help you. We human beings needs two way interactions, I think.
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