Push Pins

You'd have thought I was looking for hens teeth.

Push pins, I told the first cashier patiently despite her blank look, They're kind of like thumb tacks.

Push pins, I told the second cashier who looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language, They're kind of like thumb tacks.

Push pins, I told the third cashier tiredly, They're kind of like.....

Thumb tacks?  she asked and I felt a small thrill.

Yes! I very nearly shouted.

We don't carry them, she said cheerfully, Sorry.

I controlled an urge to reach across the counter and shake her senseless.

Leaving the parking lot, I pass the hardware store and decide to try one last time.  It's a locally-owned store, very upscale and fancy and selling way more than hardware and it tends to be pricey so I rarely make it my first stop.

Push pins?  I ask hopefully.

Right this way, a young man in a carpenter's apron smiles at me.  Seconds later I'm at the checkout with a pack of a dozen metal push pins.

I don't know why I just don't come here first..... I tell the cashier as she rings up the sale and slips the push pins into a small paper bag.

$13.82, she tells me brightly but almost immediately the smile turns to a frown as she realizes the unlikelyhood of the charge.

......but that might be the reason, I say equally brightly, Are you sure?  Thirteen dollars for a dozen push pins?

Mercy! she exclaims with a suspicious look at the cash register, That can't be right!

She fiddles impatiently with the keyboard, wipes out the sale and starts again.

$1.77, she tells with an apologetic smile as I hand over two dollar bills.  I drop the change into the little plastic St. Jude's container and slip the push pins into my pocket.  She wishes me a Happy New Year and I return the favor but as I leave, I notice that she gives the cash register a sharp head slap and mutters something about technology. 

This makes me smile.