{"id":27,"date":"2002-08-21T22:58:08","date_gmt":"2002-08-21T22:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/?p=27"},"modified":"2002-08-21T22:58:08","modified_gmt":"2002-08-21T22:58:08","slug":"giving-credit-where-credit-is-due","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/?p=27","title":{"rendered":"Giving Credit Where Credit is Due"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve come to a conclusion, a conclusion that every store in the world
\nhas yet to grasp: personal credit card swipe machines are useless –
\ntotally and utterly useless.
\nYou know the kind. Stop by the cash register of any store, be in
\nBest Buy<\/a>,
\nWalmart<\/a>,
\nSears<\/a>, or
\nGiant<\/a>,
\nand an innocent looking grey or black box awaits a quick slash of your plastic,
\njust peering at your card like a hungry animal.<\/p>\n

Life (at least life in the middle to late nineties) used to be simple.
\nRing up my order, grab my plastic, and hand me the paper to sign.
\nThe transaction between myself and cashier was quick, simple, and
\nlargely the same from one store to the next. If you are lucky, they
\nmay even glance at your signature and comment that you look nothing
\nlike you do on TV. Debit and check cards were in vogue – as well they should be
\n(what is this cash thing I keep hearing about, by the way) – and
\nall was well with the world.<\/p>\n

The ever present push of technology, however, spoiled this simple concept.
\nSomeone, somewhere had the brilliant idea of taking the card swipe away
\nfrom the cashier. I’m not real sure on the reasoning here. Was
\nthat act of card swiping just too complicated for the average cashier?
\nIf so, who would think that the average consumer, without the aid of
\nliterally hours of training, would be up to the task? Think
\nof all the time you’ll save. Yeah, right.<\/p>\n

That someone didn’t realize that the average consumer is an idiot. Ever stand
\nbehind someone trying to figure one of these things out?
\nDespite the fact that they exist in nearly every store in
\nexistence, I’m almost willing to swear that everyone in front of me in line
\nis seeing them for the first time. They stare at the contraption like
\nit’s
\n
\nPandora’s Box<\/a>, tempting its evils to be unleashed.
\nYou can almost hear the thought process:<\/p>\n

\n

“Where do I slide the card? Do I slide it up or down? Oops, I must have
\nflipped it around wrong. Nope, maybe I had it right the first time.
\nWhat’s this – a question? Is $3.86 ok? I think so. Let’s see, I had
\na pack of gum, a bottle of water, and that magazine explaining that aliens
\nreally do exist. Or was it two packs of gum?<\/p>\n

“How would I like to pay for it? There are so many choices. I could
\nput it in on my credit card but the hubby might get upset. I could use
\nthe debit option but I’m not sure what that does. What about my gas card?
\nCan I use my gas card?”<\/p>\n

><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At this point, the cashier normally snatches the card from the patron
\nand completes the transaction for them; rendering the little machine
\nworthless. I happily beam from the back of the crowd.
\nThank you, kind sir or madam for ending this travesty.
\nThe machine itself sulks – its impotency revealed for all to see.<\/p>\n

Cashiers seem so relieved when I appear to have a brain (note that appearing
\nto have a brain is normally as close as I often get) and seem to have a clue
\nhow to work the machine. Pause ever so slightly while looking at the display
\nand a long digit of the cashier is almost certain to work its way in there,
\nprompting you along, eagerly forwarding this transaction towards
\nthe next. <\/p>\n

The fact that every store has a different one, each with its own tricks
\nand nuances doesn’t help the matter. I’d sign on the digital dotted line
\nif only I could see the display through all the ink that is written on it.<\/p>\n

The department stores, grocery stores, and this and that stores of
\nthe world need to stand up and declare that these things are useless –
\ntotally and utterly useless. Your cashiers don’t like them.
\nYour customers don’t like them. You were duped. The eskimo bought the
\nrefrigerator. The only result is a social experiment that we all
\nlive every time we make a purchase. Take them away and lock them away
\nwith the other failed ideas of the century, like
\nBetamax<\/a>.
\nPlease!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve come to a conclusion, a conclusion that every store in the world has yet to grasp: personal credit card swipe machines are useless – totally and utterly useless. You know the kind. Stop by the cash register of any store, be in Best Buy, Walmart, Sears, or Giant, and an innocent looking grey or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}