Friday, January 1st, 2021

I scan my groceries in the supermarket at the Heart of the City. A young worker pitches me their club card. It’s sort of like the ones in US supermarkets, except that it’s a real credit card. I had turned it down before. The buses have changed. Other supermarkets are less accessible. Now it makes sense. Partway into the pitch, his high-speed Hebrew loses me. I say I don’t understand. He switches to English. I would like to sign up, but didn’t they just say that the store is closing right now for the Sabbath? “No problem. It will only take a moment.” Management probably judges him on how many signups he gets. I’ve been there. The signup kiosk is about a meter from where I’m checking out. He takes my government ID and types in my number. He asks if I have another credit card. I hand him the one from the mall supermarket. “Wonderful. We work the same way. This has almost all the information we need.” He also asks me for my phone number and address. We have to try the address a few times. It turns out he can’t quite hear me over the noise. We eventually get it right. Since I’m signing up for the card, I get fifty shekels off this purchase. That would be good, but I’m only buying thirty shekels worth of groceries. The discount won’t work. “Do you see twenty shekels of more things you want? They will be free.” I don’t want to roam through the closing store. I see some sliced cheese in a case nearby. I get it. It still comes to too little. The worker disappears then shows up again with another package of the same cheese. OK. I need to sign some forms on the kiosk screen. I step over to it. To sign, I have to block the path from the checkout lanes to the exit. A woman comes up to me and asks me to let her by. I do. The worker watches her leave. “A customer asked you quietly. That never happens.” I have to shift over a couple of more times while I sign everything. When I step back to my checkout station, I see that the screen has locked. A manager has to come over and type a code. The worker hands me a confirmation page. I scan a bar code on it to get the discount. I only have to pay a few remaining shekels for everything. We thank each other. I bag my groceries and try to leave. A guard has to unlock the exit to let me out. I step outside and check my phone. I should still have time to get a challah at the bakery and some lunch at the sandwich shop before heading home.