Jan 02 2009
Is It Right?
Today, in the blustering cold I escaped our haven known as home and went out to the grocery store. Unfortunately, basic foods don’t last forever,especailly when there is so many of us to consume them.
On my way, I noticed three more store fronts through our large town had gone empty in the past week or so since I’d driven past. Then after I had plucked my groceries from the shelves of my local supermarket I got in line at the checkout. There was only one girl with about ten people lined up waiting. Customers kept mumbling that any moment the store would open a new line, and they did. But it still left a very flustered check out girl.
After all my items were scanned the girl said to me, “Is it right?” as I looked at the little screen to confirm the total charged to my card. Instictively I replied, “NO!” The green lights of the screen read $133.96. I had picked up three gallons of milk, bannanas, apples, and a few vegetables to make a salad. It was definetly not right.
Through an error made by the cashier I had been charged 109.00 for bananas instead of 1.09. A call to the manager, a flick of a key, a few codes typed in, and my grocery bill was a whole lot more reasonable. The cashier felt terrible, may have even felt her job was on line, yet I reassured her no harm done, no foul. My card was charged the correct amount since we had caught the error in time. She was the first cashier to ask me to check my total.
Today, remember we are all human, we make mistakes. Not all mistakes can be easily corrected, some of them may take a little more time, and some of them are a quick fix. Have patience, be encouraging, and accept there will be times when errors occur.
How you handle and error, how you treat the person who may have caused it, and how you demostrate patience in respect of the correction will be passed on to those around you.
