Grocery
Shopping
We came by bus from the city centre. Sari and I were both tired after
a long day at work. After the bus stopped, we went to a local grocery
store.
Sari
would have liked to have spaghetti but I wanted to eat meat. As we
failed to agree on the dinner, Sari said she wouldn't wait but went
home directly.
I
didn't have much cash with me, so I counted carefully the price of
my purchases, before lifting them to the conveyor belt.
The
cashier checked the bar codes. To my surprise the total sum of purchases
was 20 cents more than I had prepared for. This perplexed me so much
that I asked, "Can you count again?"
The
vendor anticipated that I wasn't going to pay. Routinely she alarmed
the security. As the guard approached, I repeated my request, "The
sum total is too high. Can you please double-check the prices."
I
didn't usually bother about such small sums, and I was somewhat surprised
at my own behaviour. I was sure, however, that the cashier had made
a mistake.
The
security guard called the police. Causing such trouble, I felt like
a criminal, but I reasoned the situation would resolve before the
police men arrived.
Slowly
the cashier re-read the bar codes. From outside I could hear faint
sound of the sirens. The police were on their way. The sound got louder,
and there were gun shots. People looked at each other. There was a
loud sound of engine roaring and tires burning, then more shooting.
Clearly the police were chasing a car, like in American TV series.
I
suspected the approaching police car alarmed the local youth gangs,
who thought they were getting targeted. The situation was unusual
but I understood that if the dispute about my bill would not be resolved
soon, I could be arrested, too.
The
cashier had almost finished, but as she was checking the price of
the chili pepper, I noticed that she read the price according to the
weight, not according to the price stamped on the plastic cover. Thus
the end result was 6,40 euros, not 6,20 as I had counted. Now that
I understood the reason for the difference, I was ready to pay the
sum.
"Where's
the disturbance here?" the police man asked while entering the
shop. I gave the exact sum to the cashier.
"It
was a false alarm," the girl said, "Just a misunderstanding."
I
packed the food items to my backbag. The police man paid attention
to a video cassette I had bought. He grabbed me by the sleeve and
said, "That is an excellent movie."
