The other day, when buying copious amounts of alcohol from a local family run supermarket with my father (preparing to wrap ourselves in Australian flags and booze on a patriotic combination of Olympics and alcohol, of course), Dad decided to pay with his credit card. So he gave it to the friendly man behind the counter, and he swiped it in the eftpos. ERROR.
Friendly man: Hmm, it doesn't seem to be working.
Dad: Hmm, there had been something wrong with the card, so they were reactivating it...I think I should call them to check its been reactivated...
*Dad gets out mobile phone and rings credit card company...after a while...
Dad: They said it should be activated in 5 mins...
Friendly Man: Ah, I see.
So then we stood to the side for 5 mins while other people went past and bought whatever it is they buy, and a lady dropped an onion and I picked it up and she smiled and said "thank you" and I said "that's ok" then she put it into her trolley that elderly ladies use. But my Dad wanted to use his credit card, to be sure that it worked, and so we waited...
Dad: Well, its been 5 mins, perhaps we could give it another shot.
Friendly Man: Ok. *gets card and swipes it. "No..." *proceeds to swipe card
And I mean some serious swiping. He swiped, then swiped, then swiped some more. He swiped until his arm was sore. Then he decided "Sometimes it works better with plastic. Just sometimes...all I know...is it sometimes works better with plastic." And so he got a plastic bag, and wrapped it around the card, and continued his swiping, breaking the 100 mark (no exagerration).
And his wife was standing next to him (because there weren't too many customers in the shop at this time), and she was just watching. She was mesmerised by his swiping. Occassionally she'd give a little nod after each swipe as if she was thinking "Now that swiping, that's why I married this man." Or "yes, yes, it's working". But it didn't. So now I was asking my dad to just pay with money. But he can be stubborn, and so we continued. Of course, if the card wouldn't swipe, we'd have to put in the security number or some such thing. Of course, this was all fine except for one number which was both obscured by another part of the card, and a little faded.
Friendly Man: Is this a 5, do you think *shows Dad
Dad: Yeah, I think it could be a 5
Friendly Man's Wife: *taking a look "It might also be a 6"
Friendly Man: Ah yes, it does look also a bit like a 6. Maybe I will try both numbers. *tries both numbers. "It still doesn't seem to be working...." *addressing me: "What do you think, is it a 6 or a 5?
Me: *inspecting the card "I think it has to be a 6...although...that bit might not be joined...but I'd definitely say either a 5 or a 6. I don't think it could be anything else.
Friendly Man: *getting out his glasses for a closer inspection. "Well, I've tried both of them. I do not think it will work."
At this point I spotted some Beef Jerky sitting on a stand at the counter (evidently designed for customers such as ourselves), and, having always thought it was similar to dog food, was naturally curious to try some.
Me: Dad, is beef jerky like dog food?
Dad: No, its not dog food. Its dried salted beef. Do you want to get some to try?
Me: uhh....ok.
Friendly Man: Well then, I would have to add it to the other purchases...and start over again...
Me: Oh, never mind then.
Dad: Well, you can probably pay with coins separately.
So we did, and the man continued to swipe for a little while longer, until I FINALLY managed to convince Dad to pay with cash, and we left. (Incidentally, the beef jerky tasted sort of salty, chewy...not bad, not terribly exciting either.) Well, it was one of those moments where you just had to be there, I guess.
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