The Queue Jumper
A young bearded man in a suit, tie and glasses, walks quickly through the aisles of a convenience
store to the counter, a magazine under his arm. As he gets closer he sees a woman with a full
trolley moving towards the only available checkout. He speeds up, but she gets there before
him, and he rolls his eyes.
An older, well-dressed woman, walks straight to the checkout in front of the woman with the
trolley. The man says, “Hey!”
The checkout operator, a young, bored-looking woman, says, “I’m sorry, I think this lady was
first.” The first customer waves, and says, “Oh, no, that’s OK.” The checkout operator asks,
“Are you sure?” and she replies, “It’s fine.” The operator, nonplussed, says, “OK” and the
young man says, sarcastically, “Fine.”
The operator packs a shopping bag and taps on her console, saying, “That’ll be seven ninety
five, do you have any rewards cards today?” She looks up, and the customer looks confused,
asking, “Sorry?” The operator repeats, “Do you have any rewards cards today?” The customer
nods, confused, saying, “OK.” The man sighs, impatiently, saying, “For goodness sake!”
The first customer turns to him, indignantly, and with a hand on her hip glances at his magazine,
saying, “Men’s Health. You in a hurry?”
The operator repeats, “Do you have any rewards cards?” and the older customer shakes her
head, saying, “No.” The operator taps on her console, asking, “Would you be interested in our
two for one chocolate special today?” The customer nods, distractedly, saying, “OK. OK.” But
when the operator reaches for the chocolates she shakes her head, saying, “Oh, no, no.”
The operator puts them back, and says, “That’ll be seven ninety-five, were you paying EFTPOS
or cash today?” The customer opens her purse and searches, slowly. The operator glances
around, impatiently, and repeats, “How are you paying today?” The customer hands over a ten
dollar note, and a credit card. The operator looks at them both, shakes her head, and hands
back the credit card. The customer takes it, confused, then hands it back to the operator again.
The operator frowns, asking, “Were you paying cash today?”
There are now two more customers behind the young man, who says, “Could we hurry this up?
I’m in a bit of a rush.” The first customer turns to him again, indignantly, and glances at his
magazine. He says, sheepishly, “It’s for my wife.”
The operator says, “Just one moment sir, I’m just serving this lady.” The older customer turns
to the young man and asks, “Do I have to give you something?” He replies, “No! You’ve got to
give it to her! Can you be quick please?”
The operator looks the customer in the eye and asks, “Were you paying cash today?”
The customer nods, and replies, “Yes.” The operator takes the change and hands it to the
customer, who reaches for it, but drops it on the ground. The first customer steps over to help
her pick it up, as the young man says, “For goodness sake!” While the first customer is helping
the older woman, he takes the opportunity to slip forward in the queue. The operator leans
over to the stressed older woman and says calmly, “Don’t worry, it’s fine!” The customer hands
the change to her, but she shakes her head and hands it back, saying, “No, no, this is yours!”
The operator hands the shopping bag to the customer and says, “There you go.” The customer
says, “Thank you,” as she walks away, to which the operator replies, “No problem!”
The young man steps forward, smiling. The operator glances at him, and says, “Sorry sir, I think
this lady was next.” She glances at the first customer, who smiles at the young man. He walks
to the back of the line, annoyed, as the first customer steps forward and begins unpacking her
trolley, asking, “Can I get some bags please?” The operator replies, “No problem.”