I often wonder, when I am standing in a long queue, why everyone in front of me takes such a long time to complete whatever the transaction is, whether it is buying groceries, paying a bill or even getting petrol. When I am being served, I seem to take a couple of minutes at most. What are people doing - chatting, reminiscing, discussing the meaning of life - what?
However, today I see why transactions sometimes take a little longer than usual. I am at the till and my bank card is declined twice, even though I know it has 'sufficient funds'. The teller asks one of the assistants to fetch another swipe machine and she saunters away as though she is trying to kill time before going on a long lunch. About five minutes later she is back and the card is still declined.
I then try and use my Ecocash account and find that Ecocash is offline so I dig around in my bag for some cash (always in short supply) and find that I have enough to cover some of the groceries, but not all of them. The cashier then has to call the manager to put in some sort of code so that the items can be removed from the bill.
The cashier at the nearby till then leans over and says Ecocash is back online so my cashier now adds the items he has just removed. Finally, I leave the shop with my groceries. Did I discuss the meaning of life with the cashier? No, but I certainly could the next time. If anything, living here, teaches great patience and fortitude. It is really no use getting angry with people for a system that is beyond their control/
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