Valid.
Coupon four.
Eighty-six cents off laundry detergent.
Valid.
Dana placed all four on the counter.
“That’s four.”
She turned toward Brent.
“Did you manually check any of the others?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Once the first one failed, I figured the rest would too.”
Dana stared.
“You figured.”
“Yes.”
“You did not verify.”
“No.”
“And what exactly did you say to him before I got here?”
Brent hesitated.
The woman behind Arthur crossed her arms.
Brent looked at the line.
Then at Dana.
“I told him saving a couple dollars wasn’t worth embarrassing himself over.”
Arthur looked down.
Hearing it repeated somehow made it worse.
Dana’s expression changed immediately.
“You said that?”
Brent shrugged.
“He was holding up the lane.”
Dana looked at Arthur.
Then at the customers.
“How long has this been going on?”
The construction worker checked his phone.
“Maybe eight minutes.”
The mother behind him said:
“Most of that was the cashier arguing.”
The woman in the navy coat added:
“He also told him to start putting groceries back if he couldn’t afford them.”
Dana looked at Brent.
“Is that true?”
Brent’s confidence dropped.
“I was trying to keep things moving.”
Dana asked again.
“Did you tell him to put groceries back because he was using coupons?”
“I said if he couldn’t afford the cart without them.”
Dana’s face went still.
Arthur said quietly:
“I told him I could.”
Dana looked back at Brent.
“Did you insult him before you checked those coupons?”
Brent’s voice dropped.
“I thought the coupons were bad.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Silence.
Dana repeated:
“Did you insult him before you checked?”
Brent looked down.
“I didn’t think one comment would become all this.”
Dana stepped toward the register.
“Step away, Brent.”
His head snapped up.
“What?”
“You are not finishing this transaction.”
“You’re pulling me off the lane over four coupons?”
“No.”
Dana’s voice became colder.
“I’m pulling you off because you humiliated a customer before doing your job.”
Brent looked at Arthur.
Then at the line.
His embarrassment now resembled the humiliation he had spent ten minutes creating for someone else.
“Dana.”
“Go to the office.”
“But…”
“Now.”
Brent removed his register key.
He stepped away.
As he passed Arthur, he muttered:
“I guess you got what you wanted.”
Dana heard him.
“So did everyone else.”
Brent stopped.
Dana pointed toward the office.
“Go.”
He went.
Nobody applauded.
Arthur was grateful for that.
The last thing he wanted was for the supermarket to become a theater.
Dana moved behind the register herself.
She scanned the coupons properly.
Then completed the transaction.
“Mr…”
She glanced at Arthur’s loyalty account.
“Mr. Beckett.”
“Yes.”
“The corrected total is $76.41.”
Arthur handed her his card.
Dana processed it.
Then gave him the receipt.
“All four discounts are here.”
Arthur checked.
They were.
$2.36.
He folded the receipt.
“Thank you.”
Dana looked embarrassed.
“I’m sorry.”
Arthur nodded once.
She continued.
“You should not have had to fight this hard just to be treated fairly.”
Arthur looked at the receipt again.
Then at her.
“Two dollars still belongs to me.”
Dana nodded.
“Yes, sir.”