Not something you see everyday

[particleguy]

This morning I stopped by the deli to get a sandwich and chips for lunch.  I decided to check Safeway to see if they had Coke on sale.  Inside up front I did find a large display of Coca-Cola products in 12-packs.  The sign said:  "Sale on all Pepsi products.  Buy two, get two free."  Hmmm.  The display was right across from the customer service counter, so I waited a few minutes while a guy got his $2.68 refunded. Then I asked the woman behind the counter about the display and sign.  She sighed.  She doublechecked their sale flyer, and then walked over and removed the sign.  "Do you want Coke?  I can give you the sale price if you do," she said.  I said sure, and she said to bring them to her.  I went outside to get a shopping cart and  then loaded in three cartons of regular Coke, and one Diet Coke for the missus.

Did I need anything else?  I decided no, and rolled over to the customer service counter.  The clerk was helping someone else, a woman about 40-45.  I chilled, checking my email, etc.  I noticed that the woman was buying a bunch of gift cards, which the clerk was activating.  She looked over to me and said, "Sorry, this will just be a few minutes."  "No problem," and I continued to check my phone.

Shortly, the activations were done and the total rung up.  The customer proceeded to pull a pile of cash from her purse.  At first, I wasn't really paying attention, and then I was trying not to stare.  But the clerk was counting many 100-dollar bills.  They came with little paper bands around the stacks.  The clerk said something like, "You must have just come from the bank." Trying to be surreptitious, I counted along as the last stack was tallied:  20.  There had been one other full, banded stack, plus more.  I hadn't noticed if the first pile had a band.  But this customer had just shelled out between $4000 and $6000 cash at Safeway.

Granted, it was the Sharon Heights Safeway (in Menlo Park), but still...

Comments

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

There's got to be a story there. Why carry that much cash? Why buy gift cards with it? Why. . .?

[particleguy.livejournal.com]

My guess is that the gift cards are to be given out as awards or prizes. I didn't really see how many she bought. The cash is the puzzle. It obviously wasn't just some stack of cash that had been pooled. Maybe she thought she had to pay cash for the gift cards? And I suppose Safeway might have a limit on how many you can buy with a credit card or other means. There is a Bank of America almost next door, so it could have been a very short time she was carrying it.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

The missus? THE MISSUS? Who are you and what have you done with my husband?