No Money For You

Here is an actual conversation I witnessed this past weekend, one that left Rob and I utterly disgruntled and baffled:

The Scene: Mid-morning. Rob and I are at the register of a Rite-Aid drugstore during our visit to Riverside. We have some water and Twizzlers to buy, but this is mainly an excuse to withdraw some cash using the debit card. The guy working the register appears to be a particularly clueless teenage boy.

Cashier: Would you like cash back?

Rob: Yes, could I get $40?

Cashier: Um, well, actually, I can't give you that much right now because I just opened this register.

There is a baffled pause, while Rob and I attempt to communicate telepathically about what we should do now. I turn around with an apologetic glance at the small line that has formed behind us in the meantime.

Rob: Uh, okay...How much can you give us?

Cashier: (Long pause.) Probably nothing.

Rob: I guess we're not going to buy this stuff, then.

Here is what we were both wondering at, what seemed to be the utter absurdity of the situation: Why in the bloody hell did he ask us if we wanted cash back if he couldn't actually give us any cash back? How lame is that? Maybe it would have been excusable to be on such egregious autopilot at, say, 7 or 8 am, but not after 11. Even I'm fully awake by then.