Coffee break – when did the machines win?

Coffee_manSince I enjoyed my recent mobile blogging experience at the Borders in Montgomeryville, PA, I decided to give it another go this morning. No free Apple Pie samples yet but one can always dream, right? I walked in the door and followed my standard routine: keep the backpack on, use the facilities so I don’t have to leave Samantha unattended later, and order coffee. From there, I settle down at my mobile workspace until either the coffee or the UMPC batteries are gone; it’s usually pretty even since I’m a sipper, not a guzzler.

Unfortunately, my routine was broken today thanks to the machines. Clearly, they’ve won and The Matrix is a not too distant future. Step three, the coffee ordering, went as planned, but sub-step 3A, pay for the order, became a nightmare. A total disruption to the routine. My coffee cost me $4.14 after tax so I handed a five-spot to the young lady behind the counter. I gathered she was relatively new since she had to look up the ‘code’ for my coffee. Apparently the machines have decided that English is no longer acceptable. I can live with that, but not with what happened next. Instead of $0.86 change, I received $0.86 in change and three single dollar bills. HUH?!?

Being the kind of person I am, I kindly pointed out the mistake and that’s when it all began. For five minutes, we debated how much change I was supposed to get and why? Because the register said I should get back $3.86 for no good reason. Oh, we agreed the register was wrong, but that’s about all we agreed on. "If that’s what the register says, than that’s what I have to do." Hey, whatever; I tried. Now I have a much cheaper coffee that was overpriced to begin with, not to mention a new respect for our new masters. My advice: take the blue pill because it’s just what Cypher said: "ignorance is bliss."

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