Strange things are afoot at the Smith's today. The street lights outside flickered and sputtered. Who knew it was a portent?
I should have just turned around as soon as I saw the long line of carts blocking the whole left side of the store. The only way to enter was through a checkout lane backwards. There weren't exactly any "keep out" signs, but it should have been clear to me right then that my patronage wasn't welcome.
There was only one lane open although there were other employees around the store. Maybe none of them were cashiers? In the middle of trying to find lunch meat, the lights in that section shut out. It was a bizarre feeling and restless shoppers swarmed like hornets.
The surly cashier screamed into the crowd that a coworker had a medical emergency and wasn't here to help her. I can certainly understand the backup, but screaming at customers doesn't help anything. I've purchased many groceries from this location, but today I left my cart and left the store.
It was a bad scene and a real feel bad atmosphere. No one seemed to be in charge. I'm perplexed. This isn't the store that I'm used to. Had someone died?
I've had a bunch of good experiences here so I'm going to chalk it up to an isolated situation. I'm completely bummed though.