Limit Per Customer
Today I was reminded of something my family used to do.
With three children in the family, I learned early on the importance of the word "sale" and the meaning of "blue light special", because it typically meant there was a better chance I could convince my parents to buy whatever it was that'd caught my eye. Thus, every August as the start of the school year loomed and the Back to School sales started my parents sought to take advantage of the prices and stock up on things like spiral notebooks, three ring binders, number two pencils, and notebook paper. The only problem was that these items typically had per customer limits. No worries. Each child and adult would take the limit and line up at the checkout stand. It was, in an odd way, a sort of family bonding experience, because we weren't just tagging along on the family shopping trip; we were helping.
It was also kind of exciting at the time. It created an illusion of independence as I handed the cashier my -- meaning my parent's which they handed to me earlier and instructed not to lose -- money and pocket the change which we usually were allowed to keep as a sort of bonus and which subsequently quickly disappeared into the nearest candy machine. I always felt, though, also slightly sneaky when we did this, going so far as to stand in a separate line from my siblings -- though in sight of my parents of course -- so as not to be caught. As I waited my turn trying to look as nonchalant as possible as a child can who hadn't discovered the word "nonchalant" yet, a part of my mind imagined what'd happen if the cashier caught on and refused to let me through, confiscating my packs of wide ruled paper and directing me to leave the line. They might even threaten to tell my parents! Ha, but little did they know that my parents were the masterminds behind this little plot! And thus my imagination ran off with me again.
Of course that never happened, and chances are the minimum wage cashier knew and couldn't care less, but to a child it was totally plausible.
With three children in the family, I learned early on the importance of the word "sale" and the meaning of "blue light special", because it typically meant there was a better chance I could convince my parents to buy whatever it was that'd caught my eye. Thus, every August as the start of the school year loomed and the Back to School sales started my parents sought to take advantage of the prices and stock up on things like spiral notebooks, three ring binders, number two pencils, and notebook paper. The only problem was that these items typically had per customer limits. No worries. Each child and adult would take the limit and line up at the checkout stand. It was, in an odd way, a sort of family bonding experience, because we weren't just tagging along on the family shopping trip; we were helping.
It was also kind of exciting at the time. It created an illusion of independence as I handed the cashier my -- meaning my parent's which they handed to me earlier and instructed not to lose -- money and pocket the change which we usually were allowed to keep as a sort of bonus and which subsequently quickly disappeared into the nearest candy machine. I always felt, though, also slightly sneaky when we did this, going so far as to stand in a separate line from my siblings -- though in sight of my parents of course -- so as not to be caught. As I waited my turn trying to look as nonchalant as possible as a child can who hadn't discovered the word "nonchalant" yet, a part of my mind imagined what'd happen if the cashier caught on and refused to let me through, confiscating my packs of wide ruled paper and directing me to leave the line. They might even threaten to tell my parents! Ha, but little did they know that my parents were the masterminds behind this little plot! And thus my imagination ran off with me again.
Of course that never happened, and chances are the minimum wage cashier knew and couldn't care less, but to a child it was totally plausible.