Cultural Decline

As I was leaving Walmart with a small bag of purchases, a polite young woman in a blue apron was waiting at the exit door, trying to reduce shoplifting.  I met her eyes and looked expectantly with a friendly expression on my face, waiting for some word from her.

(Please understand, I seldom patronize Walmart, so I don’t automatically know the rituals.)

She said something, but I couldn’t make it out.  I kept walking toward her, assuming that I’d be close enough when she repeated herself in response to my raised eyebrows.  Then I heard her say “C.R.E.C.”

I knew that I must have misunderstood, so I was now in her presence and apologetically begged “I’m sorry, what was that?”

She didn’t slow down, but she increased her volume a little and said a third time “C.R.E.C.”

Then it clicked in my mind.  “Oh!  May I see your receipt, please?  Certainly!  Certainly!” and I handed it to her.

I’m sure that she was glad to get that over with, but I doubt that she got a blog post out of it.

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