Goofy People

 I'm sure I posted this before, but we never get tired of those old classics:  When I was in the army, and somebody would say something unfavorable about the army, some smart aleck would always reply, "It's not the army, it's the people in it."  Years later I realized that those smart alecks were right, and it wasn't just the army, it was everywhere. There is nothing inherently wrong with any institution, it's the people in them.  They're not all evildoers, but they all have something wrong with them, at least from my perspective.  I suppose they think the same thing about me, and they might be right.  

I'm trying to think of a simple example, but the only thing that immediately comes to mind is the behavior I have observed in the can and bottle return room at Walmart.  Last I heard, Illinois still didn't charge a deposit on beverage containers, so first I'll have to explain how it works.  Some of the smaller stores just take your returnables over the counter, but the larger stores all have machines into which you feed your returnables one at a time.  When you're done, you press a button and the machine issues you a printed receipt that you turn in when you go through the checkout line where they either give you your money or credit the slip against your grocery bill.  This is not rocket science and it's been around for decades, but some people still find a way to screw it up and make it more difficult for every one else.  

I remember one time, long before the corona hit the fan, when I was waiting my turn at the machine.  I was kind of in a hurry because I was on my way to a doctor's appointment, but I would have had time to spare if it wasn't for Karen.  I knew Karen from the paper mill, so I called her by name to tell her that she was feeding the cans in too fast, which was why the machine kept jamming up.  The store employee who had to keep clearing the jams had already told her the same thing, but I thought she might take it better from me since she knew me from the mill.  Well she didn't, she kept feeding the machine too fast and it kept jamming up until she finally ran out of cans and left.  I got my cans in without jamming the machine once, and made it to my appointment in time, but just barely.  

As soon as I came through the door, this nurse took my blood pressure and said it was really high.  I told her that I have never had high blood pressure in my life, which was the truth in those days.  She asked me if I had experienced any stress lately, which I had, and then told me to come back in a week and have it checked again, which I did, and it was normal. 

Now that you know how the system works, I can tell you about how it has gotten worse since the corona hit the fan, but I'll save that for tomorrow.