Declined

It's a little disconcerting being out of work.  But it must be more disconcerting being the woman in front of me in the checkout line at Price Chopper yesterday afternoon.

She rang up a bill of $170, and ran her credit card through the swipe machine.  It was declined.  She ran it again, intending the split the bill in half and pay for her groceries using two credit cards.  Declined again.

Then she moved her grocery cart to the front window and said, "I'll be back.  I have to run to the bank."  The cashier canceled the order and then proceeded to ring me up.  "That was embarassing," the cashier said. 

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I suppose it happens to the best of us sometimes."