The Perfect Gift

We recently started peddling gift cards from other stores. It's been fun, really, and by fun, I mean, yeah, uhm, not so much. I never had any time or inclination to actually look at the thing--I was spending my Christmas shopping season outside.

This day, though, I'm inside, at the self-checkout. A woman comes to me to check out. She has two JCPenney gift cards, pre set for $25 each. She has a blank look on her face, and she says, "I want $50 on each of those please."

I tell her, "I don't think I can change the amount on the pre set cards. I'll try, though." So try I do...and fail I do.

I tell her that it can't be done that way. She blinks at me.

She blinks at me some more.

She begins rooting through her purse, and says, "I'm going to give you $50 for each, okay?"

I tell her, no, I'm sorry. If she wants $100 in JCPenney gift cards, she needs to get me two more $25 cards.

She blinks at me.

Then she blinks some more.

"So how much is it again?" she asks.

I tell her that to have $100 in these gift cards, she'll need to get me two more $25 cards. She blinks.

Then she walks away.

She comes back, a few minutes later, with ONE $50 JCPenney gift card.

Uhm, OKaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy.

I ring that up, she blinks and pays. Then she blinks some more as she wanders off through the store.

I take the cards back the endcap where they're being displayed...and the $50 JCPenney gift cards are UNDERNEATH the $25 ones.

I stood there blinking for a moment, then went back to my register to blink some more.