Let me start by saying that I understand that habits are a bad thing. Really bad. You should not go through life on autopilot. I discovered how bad habits can be this last week when we ran out to get Thai Takeout for lunch. There's a fairly new place called Kasira that opened a couple of months back. We noticed it because Marsha knew the person who owns it from The Superstore. We'd picked up takeout at Kasira once before and we loved it. The food is great and they have the best Spring Rolls we've ever had. So this last Tuesday Marsha and I ran out there just after noon to pick up some more Spring Rolls and a couple of spicy dishes. When our order came I got up to pay and as usual used my debit card. I don't know if things have changed back in the "Old Country" but here you almost never see checks. Most places won't even take checks. We use the Debit Card for nearly everything. We have a small number of checks for the very few situations that require them but that's very seldom. It took us a year to go through our first twelve checks after we moved here. Debit cards rule on the Island.

Now, Debit card machines are all the same. You have a number pad, an OK button, a Cancel button, and a few buttons that change what they are depending on where you are in the transaction. The sequence is always the same: Swipe the card, Are you sure . Is this the right amount . Enter your PIN number <#####>. Hit and you're done.

So the hostess rang up the bill and I pulled out my debit card. She handed me the Debit Machine and I swiped my card. Are you sure . Is this the right amount . Then I started to enter my PIN only to discover it was asking me about a tip. A Tip? This is takeout; you don't add a tip on takeout. I hadn't thought about a tip. Unfortunately I'd already started entering my PIN. I looked at the screen, something I accept that I should have been doing more closely from the start, and discovered two things. First there was no Backup or Undo button on the machine. I'm sorry, but I've been using computers for so long I always expect to see an Undo button.  I reach for an Undo button when I spill a glass of milk or hit my thumb with a hammer. It's automatic, maybe even a habit, but that's another story. In this case search as I might there was no Undo button. Then my eye went to the Cancel button. This was the second thing I thought about. Unfortunately the Cancel button would cancel the whole transaction. She'd have to ring it up all over again it and she'd think I was some crazy absent minded old codger. A quick mental calculation proved that it wasn't an unreasonable tip so I just let it go through. I finished the transaction. She gave me an odd look as she handed me the receipt but all was well.

So that's why I have a $.12 tip on a takeout order totalling $31.62. It was really the fault of the Debit card machine that didn't follow the normal pattern. That's totally logical, right? OK now could someone explain this to Marsha who saw the receipt and isn't buying this explanation at all? She just thinks I'm a crazy absent minded old codger.

Have a good week

Doug & Marsha

PIX: We started working in the yard. Here's a few pictures of the flowers that are already blooming.