The Stone Age

It is amazing how far we have come and how many skills we have lost on the journey. I was in the Verizon store and their system "went down". It was down all morning. There were about 10 workers there and they looked so lost. As I was talking to a representative, a man walked in and wanted to purchase a cell phone case. He took out his credit card, in order to pay. The guy behind the counter got a terrified look in his eyes. Since he could not swipe the card into his computer, he had no idea how to handle this transaction. After having a brief caucus with his co-workers, someone decided to get the manual credit card machine. The old kind, that you put carbon copy slips into and run the metal bar over the card, to make an impression. The sales reps all gathered around to learn this unique skill. The manager had to show them a few times, as it took manual dexterity to move the metal bar. After the carbon copy was made, there was a discussion of where to list the item on the sales slip. I was one step away from jumping over the counter and showing them. After they tackled that challenge, the most difficult part reared it's ugly head. Sales tax. No one knew what Nassau County sales tax was. The leader of the pack, said it was 8.63%. Even though I knew it was 8.625%, I did not feel the need to correct them. Obviously the customer did not know either, or he would have said something. Ten minutes later, the transaction was done. As the customer left the store, one salesperson said, "Wow, that is what it must have been like, living in the Stone Age".