Sunday, July 19, 2009

The one thing that never changes.

Its been a long time since I rang a cash register. Things used to be pretty simple. You rang up whatever the price tag read and it was added in to the running total. There was no question as to the price. Today things are a bit more complicated. Scanners are used and bar codes are read to get the price. Everything is done with software. It doesn't matter what the price on the shelf tag says. The pre-programmed price rings up. If it is different than the shelf price, you have to point it out to them. I don't like that.

Fast food restaurants are even worse. Their special value meals are coded into the computer. When you look at your bill you can never quite figure out how they arrive at the price they charge you. The menu has one price and the receipt has some formula that gives you a total. I go to Subway Restaurant all the time and I swear I get charged a different price depending on who is ringing me out. I think it is because it depends on which buttons they hit.

This afternoon I paid a little more for my value meal. I considered saying something but then held my tongue. It wasn't her fault. She just hit the buttons. If I wanted to blame somebody it would be the people who programmed the computer with so many different options.

It got me thinking about the human predicament. God gave us this little thing called free will. That means that every single one of us can make a different choice in every situation. There are no preset formulas. It makes life interesting, to say the least. We never know what we are going to get in any given interaction with the people we meet. Even if someone is very consistent, honest and fair, there may be a time or two when they respond differently. That's the nature of human relations.

The one constant in life is God. He never changes. He is the today as he was yesterday and as he will be tomorrow. He is dependable. Praise God for that! You never have to guess with him. The good news is that he loves you and me and always will. You can't get a better deal than that.

Cal

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear ya ! I am different. I say something if I detect something wrong in the price. That's because I usually figure it out what the total amount should be before I get to the cashier. Also nobody knows how to count back change anymore. I did the retail gig more than a few times. I always counted back the change to the customer. I guess it's the way I was taught in the "old days" (70's/80's) when I was in retail. I even did McDonalds, who hasn't. I still counted back the change. ANYWHO......

Denise said...

Amen my friend.