Yesterday I made my usual stop at the grocery store to grab a few items. I didn’t need much. Just a few cans of cat food and a loaf of bread. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the store wasn’t busy, which meant I’d be in and out, or so I thought.

There were only two lanes open so I chose the one with the shortest line. There was actually only one lady in that line who ringing through a big load of groceries, but was near the end when I pulled up behind her.

After the cashier rang in the total for her groceries, out came the gift cards. These cards were still attached to the cardboard they came with. You’d think the lady might have separated these before she got to the store, but no.

So the cashier had to rip these cards open and then rub the stuff off the back of the card to expose the barcode so she could scan them. The lady had more than $160 worth of groceries and six gift cards! I’m standing in line doing a slow burn while this poor cashier is spending 5 minutes of her day ripping and rubbing $25 gift cards. At one time I was the only person waiting in line. Now I had 4 people behind me shaking their heads. Some people just gave up and went over to the other cashier.

There are your two shopping lessons for the day. Number one. The shortest line could take the longest time. Number two. If you are going to be using gift cards be sure to get them prepared at home before you stand in line at the store. You’ll have a lot less people giving you the evil eye as you wheel your purchase out to the parking lot.

Argh!