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r Openers...

The Express Lane,
The Shopper's Friend?

SARA GOTTLIEB
Special to The Jewish News

J

ewish homemakers everywhere
are always involved in food
preparation. Sometimes it seems
that we are constantly at the
supermarket. When we think we have
everything we need, we remember some
/ important ingredient we forgot and
back to the store we go again.
My married daughter and I enjoy
shopping early in the day to avoid the
long lines. With practically no traffic to
contend with, we often drive the extra
mile to our favorite market first thing in
the morning.
The cashiers are friendlier early in the
morning as well. After all, they have not
yet dealt with those disagreeable cus-
tomers who rush in late, grab the wrong
item and yell at the cashier. Our goal is
to be out of the store before those
grumpy individuals terminate their
snooze alarms for the umpteenth time.
We advanced to the checkout regis-
ters. There were two lanes open, the
express lane and the regular one. Both
\ seemed to be moving at a fairly rapid
' pace. I proceeded to the express lane;
my daughter believed the other seemed
shorter, so we ended up in two separate
lanes.
Many people complain that whichev-
er lane they choose, the other goes
faster. Well, I'm one of those people.
While the express lane came to a com-
plete standstill as soon as I entered it,
` my daughter was placing her merchan-
dise on the conveyer belt.
Someone up front needed a price
check. The clerk ran to the back of the
store to check it out, leaving the rest of
us patiently awaiting his return. When
the clerk finally came back, the cus-

Sara Gottlieb is a freelance writer who
lives in Oak Park.

liowz By You

tomer decided she didn't want the item
after all.
My daughter had already paid for her
purchases and was browsing through
the magazines on display.
The next customer needed change
for a $100 bill; a new $100 bill. Never
having seen one of these before, the
cashier had to verify that it was not
counterfeit. When that was achieved, he
rang for the manager who withdrew the
funds from the safe with the help of a
security guard.
By then, even the early-morning cus-
tomers were getting grumpy.
As the cashier began to scan her
order, the customer ahead of me kept
glancing at her watch. She was already
late for work and quite upset. When the
register ran out of tape after only a few
of her purchases were scanned, she was
practically in tears. "Please let me pay,
and you'll change the tape afterwards,"
she pleaded, to no avail.
When my turn finally came, I proud-
ly paid for my purchases and smiled at
the customers behind me.
Then a jar of honey accidentally
slipped out of my cart and shattered all
over the floor. I quickly glanced around
me trying to locate my daughter in the

crowd. She was nowhere to be seen.
Obviously, she decided to act as though
we weren't related. I certainly didn't
blame her; I probably would have done
the same.
I quickly left the store, almost bump-
ing into the cleaning crew heading to
the register with a mop and pail. Over
the loudspeaker, I heard the announce-
ment, "Register One is now closed.
Sorry for the inconvenience."
So, if we ever meet at the supermar-
ket, please don't stand behind me at the
checkout counter. ❑

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