Beep

Beep

Beep-beep.

“Shit, m’am can you— please, can you come here?”

Footsteps, high heels, cut through the clamor of the crowd. She’s a manager.

“I double scanned the bottle so can you just take that off?”

She sighs, mutters into a walkie talkie on her lapel.

“No sir, I’m gonna have to void the whole transaction. Sorry for any inconvenience.” She pulls on a lanyard, another beep. She punches in a code and it’s reset.

The line behind him watches in agony. Feet tap. Hands clench, become fists.

The man struggles to scan everything again, faster this time. He curses self checkout all the while.

Beep

Beep

Be-beep!

“Motherfu…” he spins around, feels the eyes on him begin to burn through his back. The old lady who began her checkout at the same time as him waddles slowly out to her car.

“Uh, m’am?” His voice comes out deferential; weak at the knees.

She’s helping someone else. Another double scanner maybe?

“Bro, can you hurry the fuck up?” The voice comes from somewhere behind him, not at but about him. His heart rate rises.

“M’am?”

“I’ll be with you in a moment sir…” her voice is flat as ever.

Behind him, the line begins to wrap around the deli counter on the far side of the store.