Just a minute, please.

I always start my day the same way. At breakfast, I read a newspaper online, have some black coffee and two crumpets. This is what my breakfast looks like. 

I toast the crumpets, spread both of them with butter, put jam on one, and because it’s breakfast, marmalade on the other.

But one morning, I knew I was going to have a problem the next day because I only had marmalade left. I had run out of jam.

I wanted something a wee bit different, so I went into a small shop to buy some black cherry jam. I really like that. But things didn’t go as planned.

The shop is small, and there are never many customers. The day I went in, I was the only customer. There was a young woman behind the counter, and she was doing some paperwork.

I said hello, went to the shelves, found the jam, and took out my card to pay. I walked back to the counter and waited for her to set up the PayWave device. I waited, but it was very slow.

I smiled at her and told her not to worry. I said I had all day but nothing to do, so I wasn’t in a hurry.

This is the jam I wanted to buy and her trying to complete the sale.

She kept trying and I kept waiting, but nothing happened. It was getting uncomfortable for both of us, so I said I would come back another time.

But as soon as I opened my mouth, there was movement on the device, so I decided to wait a little longer. And wait. And wait. Finally, we both agreed to call it a day.

It’s been three days since that happened, but I haven’t gone back to the shop yet. I got some ordinary jam from the supermarket instead. 

Technology, when it’s working properly, can make life easy, but sometimes it has a mind of its own and decides to show us who’s boss.