A break in the line

Technology was stopped dead in its tracks the other day. The world did not come to an end, but for one brief moment in time, everything stood still.

I was at the checkout aisle of a local supermarket, behind a man who had actually read the overhead sign inviting those with six items or less to come forward (it should actually have read “six items or fewer” but that’s a subject for another post).

The fellow had his first two items scanned by the red laser light embedded under the glass on the counter top. But his third item brought things to a screeching halt. It was a large can of soup, but the label contained no barcode and thus, could not be scanned. To complicate matters, there was no price sticker on the can itself.

The cashier had become so used to simply scanning each item that she was at a loss as to what to do. Finally, she directed the customer to go back to the shelves and get a can which did have a barcode.

In the meantime, the line was stopped dead in its tracks, as we waited for the customer to complete his errand.

He finally returned, only to tell the cashier that none of the cans had a barcode or price sticker. He did, however, inform her that the price on the shelf indicated the can cost $3.29. The cashier took his word for it and manually entered the amount on the cash register.

The rest of the transaction went smoothly and the fellow was on his way.

But for one brief moment in time, technology brought our world to a stop because of a missing barcode.

Observation

People tend to look at the obvious and rarely notice that which is hidden in plain sight.

This point was made clear to me the other day. I usually drive home from work by a different route than I drive to work. Thus, I see the sights from one direction only. On this particular day, there was a huge traffic jam on my regular route to work, so I decided to take the route I usually take going home. In other words, I was traveling the same route but from the other direction. It dawned on me that the sights I was used to seeing seemed strange because I was seeing them from a reverse perspective.

A recent game show asked this question: “On the back of which U.S. paper currency is the White House pictured?”

Before you reach into your wallet, read on.

Everyone knows the basic denominations of U.S. paper currency: $1, $2 (though rarely seen), $5, $10, $50, and $100. There are higher denominations but they don’t circulate ($500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, $100,000).

Most people know that George Washington is on the front of the one dollar bill; that Abraham Lincoln is on the five; Alexander Hamilton on the ten; Ulysses Grant on the fifty and Benjamin Franklin on the hundred (“It’s all about the Benjamins”). You might even know that Thomas Jefferson is on the rarely used two dollar bill. But unless you are a collector, or serious student of currency, you wouldn’t know that McKinley is on the five hundred; Cleveland is on the one thousand; Madison is on the five thousand; Salmon P. Chase on the ten thousand and Woodrow Wilson on the one hundred thousand.

Now, with regard to the reverse, or back, of each bill, everyone knows what’s on the back of a one dollar bill – the Great Seal and a pyramid with an eye at the top. And it’s pretty easy to recall that the reverse of the Lincoln five dollar bill has the Lincoln Memorial, the same as the reverse of the Lincoln cent (at least since 1959). But what is depicted on the back of the other bills, and which one pictures the White House?

The answers:

The reverse of the $2 bill depicts a painting of The Declaration of Independence
The reverse of the $10 bill depicts the U.S. Treasury Building
The reverse of the $20 bill depicts the White House
The reverse of the $50 bill depicts the U.S. Capital
The reverse of the $100 bill depicts Independence Hall

The higher denominations just have words on the reverse.

So, as you are reaching into your wallet to pay for gasoline these days, just turn those bills over, and as Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

Paying attention

I recently received a bill from my fuel oil company which listed the price per gallon at a higher rate than my contract called for.

I called the company and spoke with a representative. He checked the file and said that I was correct and admitted I was being overcharged.

"Thank you for paying attention," he said, as he made the adjustment.

"Paying attention is better than paying extra," I replied.