Supermarket Errors

I was at the supermarket behind a woman and her young son, watching them buy a substantial amount of groceries. $197.91, to be exact.

The woman told Suzie, the cashier, that she wanted to pay $100.00 in cash and put the rest on her card. After handing over what appeared to be 5 $20s, the woman attempted to swipe her card and pay the balance.

Suffice to say, she was shocked and a bit upset when the machine asked her to pay for $196.91, and asked Suzie what was wrong. It took Suzie a minute to figure out what was wrong before she said, "Whoops, I put in that you paid $1."

Kind of a big mistake, but the woman was calm and Suzie fixed it.

The woman then paid the $96.91 (apparently, she got $1 off for her trouble) and Suzie handed her the receipt to sign.

The woman took a moment and then asked if Suzie had swiped her savings card. Suzie admitted she hadn't but pointed to the receipt and said that there were no savings to be had. The woman insisted that she had seen several items on sale and wanted her savings card swiped. Suzie adamantly insisted that the receipt demonstrated that there were no savings available.

The woman closely examined the receipt and indicated that she should have saved over $16. Suzie then directed her to go to customer service and then finished the conversation by saying, "Everyone makes mistakes."

The woman gathered up her groceries and, obviously upset, left to deal with her refund.

Suzie called after her, "Mistakes happen all the time."

After the woman left, Suzie continued on this theme, "I'd like to see the person who doesn't make mistakes, I'd like someone to show me that person" and "She forgot to give me the card, I forgot to ask for it, both of us made mistakes."

By this point, I was upset. This cashier made, not one, but two major mistakes that, if the customer hadn't caught them, would have cost the customer over $116. The cashier owed the customer a profuse apology, not the excuse that all people make mistakes.

Yes, all people make mistakes. That is why, when people apologize for mistakes, we are inclined to forgive them. We are considerably less inclined to forgive people for actions that are made with malice and forethought...but even evil actions against us are more likely to be forgiven if an apology is offered.

Right now, the woman is probably seriously annoyed. She was forced, through no fault of her own, to deal with a serious shock and then wait on an additional line for savings that she should have been given already. Meanwhile, Suzie probably feels as though she is the wronged party, that she made a simple mistake and was not forgiven. But the reason why she was not forgiven is that she did not take the step necessary for forgiveness.

Had Suzie simply taken responsibility for her mistake, this could have ended more simply and quickly.

When did saying something was a mistake in such a way to disavow responsibility, replaced a simple apology? Why is saying "It was a mistake, you make them too" easier than saying "It was a mistake, I'm sorry" or even just "I'm sorry"?