Have A Good Day
Self-checkout is maddening
Man and Newfangled Machine
Family archives
Have A Good Day
Self-checkout is maddening.
Particularly when a voice gives me instructions over and over —
as if I’m incompetent
or a thief.
And particularly when a voice halts the process I thought I was mastering
by saying “Help is on the way.”
I’m held captive by a frozen screen and
a disembodied voice insisting I need help.
On this day I complete a flawless checkout.
If it were an Olympic sport, I’d receive 10s across the board.
But the man in the self-checkout lane next to me
doesn’t stick the landing.
He doesn’t know what he has done or not done
what transgression he has committed
(incompetence? thievery?)
but the frozen screen and disembodied voice
insisting that he needs help
assures him that he has done something wrong.
“Help is on the way.”
I turn to him with empathy
assuming he’s sure to be throwing his hands in the air
cursing the machine
saying something like “Why can’t humans check us out anymore?”
and pacing in the tiny circle of drug store carpeting allowed him
wondering “Well, where is the help?”
But
he isn’t doing any of those things.
He is laughing.
He is smiling.
This man who has done something or not done something
this man who is being loudly admonished
for doing something or not doing something
this man who is being held captive by a machine
and a disembodied voice
is laughing
is smiling.
My brain isn’t sure what to do with this.
He doesn’t need empathy.
He doesn’t need consolation.
He's o.k.
I stop and let his laughter wash over me
and say,
“Thank you. Thank you for laughing. Thank you for smiling.
Thank you for showing me another way.”
He smiles and with a slight bow says,
“You’re very welcome. Have a good day.”
By Ellen Gabardi
April 2026The spoken version is below:
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