Grab your Popcorn (a soap box is coming)

I was walking along at Albertson's grocery store, loading up the buggy. It's been cold and I've been craving popcorn. There, on the popcorn shelves, I spied cheddar cheese. Yum!

Look! 100% whole grain. That sounds healthy. Better still, there was a coupon dispenser spitting out coupons for 40 cents off. Yee haw!

I got everything I wanted and headed to check out. Self check-out. I hate self check-out. I have not noticed the prices going down since Albertson's quit hiring people to help me check out. So, why aren't I getting paid to do this job? Just sayin'. But, I digress. (A whole nother soap box is coming. Hold on to your hat)

After I scanned the box of flavorful fun, the computer indicated that it had no clue what the heck I was talking about. Something about "unknown barcode." Huh.

I turned to the fellow who has been hired to supervise the non-paid hired help.

He came over and said "Oh. We only have a couple of these boxes. They are an off brand."

To which I replied "Dude. It's Orville Redenbacher."

He asked "Where did you get this?

I answered "The popcorn aisle." (duh) (which, by the way, was 1 aisle over from where we stood)

He said, in his gansta wanna be lingo, "You can have it."

Ok. Now, the business owner in me came out. In my head, I was like "Huh? Move your feet (or butt) over to that aisle, get the code, enter it in, fill out the paperwork so that it is recognized by the computer, and HELLO? Do your job! YOU, after all, ARE being paid to be here!"

Instead, I said "Well, here's the coupon that your store has in a coupon dispenser, right smack dab next to the Orville Redenbacher popcorn." Trying to make a point.

To which he replied "You can keep it."

Nope. I didn't get his name. And yes, I took the free popcorn, with the coupon.

One of my best buds happens to be the sister of the store manager. She'll be reading this and forwarding it to the boss in just a few seconds. And yes. I will pay him for the popcorn. This was not a favor from the young lad. It was an inconvenience to him. And I don't really want to contribute to society by ignoring his lack of responsibility or professionalism.

People, if we are going to complain about poor work ethics, we should make an effort to do something about it. After all, from what I hear, there are people looking for jobs out there. Perhaps, someone with more loyalty to their employer could be employed. (this is me stepping down from the soap box and heading to the microwave)

Did I mention it's been cold and I've been craving popcorn?

Happy Day!

~Mindy