Adult Children by Stephen Beals for July 19, 2023

Piker

no no ladies – she was under a rock

She has a severe case of technophobia.

She has a low payn threshold.

Some card readers are difficult to work.

I’m a tech-gnostic; I believe in technology but I’m not ready to commit my life to it.

Sorry Tabby, you are wrong this time. In addition to the variety of readers , many stores have the plexyglass still in place from the pandemic, and you of all people should know that the different heights of the counters make the screens hard to read.

Some people do not read nor comprehend what it says on the screen. If I tell them what they need to do, they do NOT listen. They’ll try to swipe the card instead of putting it in the chip slot. They’ll jam the card in so hard, it knocks the machine off the base! Sometimes I have to walk around from behind the counter to help them. Watching adults throw temper tantrums is exhausting.

We received updated card readers at work today. I’ve become proficient at running them from behind.

It took me a few tries to master the chip thing. Luckily, I was laughing about my being a luddite at the time it happened. I have very little respect for people who blame the cashiers when things don’t go their way. Store yesterday a lady ranted the same rant at the Store Manager (and she kept asking who the store manager was and he told her he was) because she bought 3 items on line figuring she could return them to a bricks and mortar store if they weren’t what she wanted even though the B and M store doesn’t carry what she bought. When the Manager finally got her out of line to calm her down, the cashier apologized for the delay. I asked him why? You didn’t cause it. You were just caught in the middle of her temper tantrum. He laughed.

Every terminal is different. If you’re not comfortable with computers it can be intimidating. Expecting people to figure stuff out on their own is risky. I’m in my 70s but I’ve been fooling around with them for nearly 40 years.

Tesla should make card readers so everyone will adopt that as the standard.

Actually seen that happen! Took my wife a few times to get it right. She’d spend so much time reading the instructions it would time her out.xD