What's the Total, Please?

When you buy something at a store, does the cashier say the total amount of the purchase out loud to you? Do you think s/he should? At the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney, allow me to gripe for a moment.

I've always thought of this as Basic Cashier Protocol, so basic that it shouldn't even have to be covered in the training class, and during the many years when I worked behind a register, I always made sure to speak the amount to customers. But as our society gets lazier and stupider, apparently retail workers now feel that it's too strenuous to work those vocal cords for a few syllables.

Today I decided to go to the Stop & Shop near my office to get a banana and a yogurt for breakfast. I ended up getting a couple of other items, and while I sometimes make a rough tally of the total in my head, today I was thinking about something else while I was in the store and so didn't do the math.

The cashier scanned my items, and then (this is my favorite part of these asinine situations) stood there staring at me, waiting for me to hand over cash or make a move for the card reader. When this happens, I just stare back, waiting. If more than a few seconds go by, I then ask, "What's the total, please?" She finally looked over her shoulder at the screen and told me the amount. Hope that wasn't too much trouble for her.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that part of a cashier's job should be to look you in the eye and say "four dollars and forty cents" or whatever the amount happens to be in an audible voice. Hell, the self-checkout tells me the total out loud, but I'd actually prefer an interaction with a person. In my case, I can't see the readout on the screen from where I'm standing on the other side of the counter, which is the reason I want the cashier to tell me the amount.

I'm sure there are plenty of other shoppers--the elderly, others with visual impairments--who have difficulty seeing the numbers on those screens from several feet away, but that should be irrelevant. It should automatically be part of the process, because, well, act like you give a fuck. Really, it's no more complicated than that. Working retail sucks and we all know it, especially those of us who have had to do it. But regardless of what your job is, do it with dignity and in the process you dignify the job and yourself. Act like a witless slug, and that's what I'll think you are.