anticipating rain i gathered my two cloth shopping bags -- trader joe's -- & walked to the supermarket

i am rarely home during the weekday i wonder who are all these people what are they doing at home they are probably wondering the same thing about me

no rain indeed it is cloudy warm with shafts of sunlight peaking thru

i make it to the store pick up a hand cart & go about my business i buy the usual things like bananas nuts bread etc the products & actions of habit & daily ritual

i use the self-checkout kiosk i'm sure these devices are the same where you live swipe the bar code from the item across the scanner then set down your purchase but don't bag it yet for the sensor will freak out thinking there is a foreign object

bananas don't have a bar code neither do tomatoes but the damn scale on the damn self-check machine won't work

i hit the help button a red light flashes above me i stand there because i am a fool

oh technology the world is remade in your image

the store employee comes over & helps me

another item won't scan i punch in the bar # into the machine but the machine doesn't recognize the digits

i hit the help button again i've been at this machine for several minutes now other customers waiting their turn see an old grey-haired man & think oh yes old people don't know their tech

the store employee kindly calmly explains how to enter the sequence of digits into the machine i am back in school at the blackboard solving for x

only then when i am done scanning my items then swiping the store card then swiping my credit card & after the computer indexes tallies & adds up the dollar amounts can i bag my groceries

& when i start bagging the sensor of the machine freaks out because there is a foreign object on it

but the walk home was nice the streets packed with people doing their thing the sky clouds over again as i wait for rain