Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for May 14, 2015

Too late…….

Don’t tell ME what kind of a day to have!

At least, she can’t blame Calvin for this.

I shop for everything except food online. It’s rare I’m ever in line to check out. I usually feel the same way if I am.

At least we know why Mom was attracted to Dad. He’s calm and quiet.

All this is automated now.

And mom puts up with that? Mom, you have a voice, use it.

Calvin’s mom is holding something in her hands in the first panel, but she has a cart in the second panel. Maybe she’s one of those customers who holds up the line by leaving her cart in line and going to pick up one more thing.She also seems a bit passive-aggressive by not speaking up to complain but then saying, “too late.” But if she did not act this way, where would be the humor in today’s strip?

@Hobbes – looks like in the first panel she’s at the post office which would make sense as she refers to the clerk as a teller.

Just slip the cashier a note saying, “I gues it’s free, then” and start to walk away – THAT’LL get her off the phone.

Hobbes , the three panels reflect 3 different stops and three different aggravations.

Taking a phone call while you have a flesh-and-blood customer is standing in front of you, with money in hand, waiting for you, is rude. Don’t do that.

Push your trolley up to the managers office, knock, wait till door opens (open it if you have to wait), tip the trolley over and tell him you are going to another store, smile and walk away.

It’s hard to remember that there was a time when the phrase “Have a nice day” was not ubiquitous. It seemed insincere, repetitious, and somewhat irritating when a lot of cashiers began using it, back when some of these comic strips were created. Presumably many of the cashiers were instructed to say it to every customer.Today, the phrase has become so commonplace that it seems pretty much devoid of meaning, similar to when someone says, “Hi — how are you?” And with the explosion of fast-food places, coffee shops, drive-throughs, etc., presumably even more employees are now being instructed to say it to every customer. It can be amusing when one goes through a drive-through at ten o’clock at night and is told to have a nice day. Then, like with Calvin’s mom, it is usually too late.

@sweetaddietude hansen and @dulgerom: I think you are correct, that Calvin’s mom is having a bad day at three different locations. At first I thought she was in a store like Wal-Mart or Target.Also, at first I thought that her purse had disappeared in the third panel (in which case she would have been having a really bad day), but she did manage to pay, so I guess her purse is at the very bottom of panel 3 and the strap is hidden by her jacket. First impressions can be misleading. Whenever I want to make a good first impression, I always begin with “Hi — how are you?” and I end with “Have a nice day!”

On the plus side, you’re not a starving Somalian refugee.

Welcome to the world, of people behaving badly.

This is a repeat comment, but appropriate for today’s strip.

I rarely go shopping, and when I do, I am frustrated by what is displayed here today, and “coupon clippers” who spend an inordinate amount of time digging for a silly 2 cent discount!

I was behind one of these once, and she was digging through her “purse” (more like a laundry cart with a shoulder strap) for a 5 cent coupon for the one item she was purchasing. When it looked like she was about to empty the purse on the counter to aid her “quest for gold”, I reached into my pocket and laid a dime on the counter saying, “Here you go” or something similar.

She looked at me and said, “But the coupon is only 5 cents.”

I said, “Well, it’s your lucky day!”

Sounds like my trips to the stores. I feel your pain.

It could have been worse. Calvin could have been with you…

This is Walmart ya know; consider the clientele.

You would think that after putting up with Calvin Mom would be immune from other forms of aggravations

If I’m in line it will come to a dead stop. When it does I tell the people behind me “It’s my fault.”

I don’t mind waiting in line. Learned how to hurry up & wait during basic training at Ft. Dix NJ in 1959. Now I just raise cane, my bamboo flute cane & start playing cheerful songs. Pretty soon people are swapping stories, & having so much fun & smiles that the line vanishes in moments.

Clerks love it, takes the stress off them, & puts the crowd in a positive mood. Unfortunately the “Fun Police” arrive & give me another citation.

Time for mom to go stand in line at the therapist office.

This is still better than being home with Calvin.

I wonder who the woman is talking to in the 3rd panel?

Her boyfriend perhaps.

xxx

Of all the times when mother’s can be sarcastic.

If you see me in line at a cashier, don’t get behind me. It is doomed to be the slowest line.

A long while ago one of our electronics chains went “modern” by outfitting all their employees with cell phones. The result was that paying customers couldn’t get help with their purchases because all the sales staff were busy answering general inquiries from non-customers!Next time I visited the store there were no cell phones.

I’ve been there too, too often. The phone call interruptions, especially. Aggh!

What also bugs me is Express Line shoppers who don’t even dig through their purse for their checkbook until the clerk is done ringing things up, and often with too many items. Then they take their time, balance their checkbook before tearing out the check.

I run my card after the first item is rung up, tap Debit, enter my code, and I’ve paid as soon as there’s a total. I bag my own while the next person is starting and I’m gone…

How does she fit that cart full of items into that tiny bag?

One time, when someone who didn’t really know me, and i was in a mood, said to me, “how are you?” after a pause, i replied, "do you truly want to know..? He was honest and said “no, not truly.” His honesty lifted my mood a bit.

…AND get her name, so the letter you write to mgmt is spelled correctly. or just call the manager directly, or scream…have a fit right there.FALL DOWN, NOW!

I always hated it when people didn’t respond when I asked a question. Sure they’re questions I have to ask, but it made my day so much more interesting when people would actually respond to them. Because of this I always try to be friendly with my cashier at a retail store. It’s a bit different at a fast food restaurant because you’re busy saying what food you want to eat rather than having some idle chat while waiting for them to scan your stuff.

The cashier in panels 3 and 4 must be new. Either that or Mom’s just being impatient after a day that’s already been rough. You don’t answer a call at your lane until you finish with a customer. If there’s another in line you ask them to hold because in a sense the phone call was next once it started ringing. Important to answer in the off chance it comes from loss prevention, which would generally be the only reason to get a phone call while working at checkout (excluding calls from Pricing after you’ve asked them to check something for you for a customer).

@Hobbes how do you get a line break in your comments? My previous comment looks much more cluttered than it should have been.

[test]

shift enter

@Jacob: To put in a line break, you can hit “enter" at the end of your paragraph, then type<br>then hit “enter” again.