Friday, February 26, 2010

In Spanish Please!


So my mom asked me to pick up some groceries on my way home today... bananas and chocolate milk. (F.Y.I. Chocolate milk is supposedly the recovery drink of choice for runners - better than Gatorade, etc. - perfect for after my 10-mile run tomorrow).

Back to the grocery store... I have two items, so I scan the open registers and spot a self checkout. Having been a child of the 80's I feel confident around technology... and can even out-Google Jeremy on any search you give us (Yes, it kills him that my Google skills are superior to him - maybe someday I will teach him my wise ways).

So I head over to the self-checkout...hit the "English" button and I am promptly hit with a Spanish voice and Spanish instructions. Can't say I was too excited to complete my transaction in a foreign language that I've never studied.

I guess I paused too long because even more Spanish is being spouted out at me and even louder than before! I look pleadingly at the main cashier, but then decide he is giving me some distance because he too does not speak Spanish, and probably thinks he can't help me because I must speak Spanish....since that is the language I chose!

You can see where this is going... I finally scan the milk and some how scan the bananas, but then couldn't quite figure out how to pay and was stuck again with the Spanish-speaking computer voice repeating some kind of "helpful phrase" in a language I don't speak.

Moral of the story, got out of there with my two items but decided I am not as technically savvy as I once thought! =) So if you too are looking for a challenge next time you're at the grocery store, just go for that "Spanish" button!

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