Trader Joe's Woes #1

Oh yes, Trader Jose's. We all love this place, well, except for the crazy cramped parking lots and the crowded aisles, but other than that, we love this place right? So, Wednesday morning, Michelle's birthday, I decide to stop there to get her some flowers. I was stuck in traffic for a while, and thus already late, so I thought, "I'll run in and out and make her day."

I pick a beautiful wine-coloured bunch of Gerber daises and grab 2 birthday cards. (It was Christian's birthday also.) For some reason TJ's was jam packed. Every line had at least 3 people in it. I join a line and wait for what usually happens -- A cute cashier sees me, comes over and says "I can open up a line for you" and takes me to a vacant check-out counter and we exchange pleasantries. Sure enough, a cute guy donning a blue Trader Joe's shirt comes over and takes me to the empty counter to the right. He quickly scans my flowers and cards and I swipe my card and use the attached stylus to request some cash back. This is where it all stops.

"Uhhh" I hear.
"What's wrong"
"I uh, I can't get the drawer to open."
"Oh"
"Yeah, it's stuck or something."

"Oh no," I say with a little nervous, how long is this going to take laugh.

"Yeah, um, it won't...Hey_______!!!(name I don't remember), I need your key, the drawer won't open."

At this point, I look to my right and see the person who was standing in line in front of me (at the other register) is starting to check out. My cute cashier tells the woman currently in line behind me to move to the other line because the machine is having problems. He walks over, retrieves the key, comes back and begins to jiggle it around in the keyhole.

"Huh"
"Not working huh?"
"No, the key, it's, it's not opening."
SILENCE

This is where it gets funny. I turn around and the person at my former register is leaving and now the person who was in line behind me at the former register is going through. I turn back around when I hear,

"Umm...Hey _______!!(name I don't remember) it's not working!"

Manager comes over to inspect, turn, jiggle key several times.

"Yeah," he says, annoyed.

He lifts up the receipt printer, the cords are loose.

"They didn't plug half the stuff in properly," he says even more annoyed.
"They didn't?" asks the cashier.
"No," says the Manager as he screws in the cords.

At this point, another person completes their purchase in my former line behind me.

"Okay, try it again," says the manager.

Cashier turns the key, success! Well, the drawer opened at least.

"Sorry about that, here you go," he says as he hands me my cash.

PAUSE - At Trader Joe's, when you get cash back you must initial the receipt. Here's where it gets really funny.

Cute cashier prints receipt. It says "No Sale."

"Oh no"
"Not the right one?"
"Yeah, this is a no sale"
"Ah.."
"Let me see."

He starts messing with the screen. I start to put my cash away and drop it. I bend down to pick it up and as my hand reaches for a $1 bill I hear "Hey, you dropped a dollar," from a man I haven't seen before in the line next to me. He's about to be rung up.

"Thanks," I reply, turning to get the rest of the money.
"There's a big bill on the floor."
"Thanks," I reply to a woman who has now queued up behind me in my line.
"It's behind you."

I turn, and sure enough, I dropped another bill behind me.
"Thank you," I say and carefully take my time to place my cash in an envelope and then inside my wallet. I take my time because at this point my cashier is not even behind the counter, he's over to the side talking to the manager.
Now, woman behind me and man who spotted the dollar start griping about Michael Jackson. Dollar man begins to check out.

The manager yells over "do you know how much your total was?"
"uh..I don't know..30 something? 34?"
"It's okay, I'll find it."

Cute Cashier is back and looks chagrined. He sheepishly says to me,

"I'm really sorry..bet you wish you'd stayed in that line huh?"
I look up, trying to be nice. "Oh, it's okay." Just then the manager bellows,

"KATHERINE?!"
"Yes, that's me"
"Got it!"
"He's printing it now." says the cashier.

I turn to the woman behind me and recommend she move to the other line. The one that's actually moving.

"Oh!" She says. "I was too busy gossiping to notice the line was stopped." I smile and turn my head, I rather agree.
"So, you got all your money?" Says the dollar man, now paying for his groceries.
"Yes, thank you...but I don't have my receipt."
"Ha, sorry, can't help with that!"
I turn back and see the manager coming over with my receipt.
"If you could please initial here."
"Sure"
From behind me we hear, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!"

It's from the dollar man, I guess intimating to the manager and my cashier that they should thank me. I am caught off guard by the outburst and his volume level.

"Thank you, sorry about this," they both say, talking over each other.
"It's okay, really, it's all right."
"I'll have to make you a copy, just a minute."

The manager hurries to his desk and putsthe paper on a little desktop scanner.
Dollar man starts to leave. Manager runs back.

"Again, I'm really sorry."
"It's fine, have a good day" I say, smiling, maybe smirking a bit, wondering how late I am now.

Dollar man is slolwly pushing his cart, now on the phone. I smile and say bye as I fold up the full-sized paper copy of my receipt. All I can do is laugh.