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The most well known play from "All in the Timing" is "The Philadelphia," which is about a man who thinks he is just having a bad day, only to be informed by his friend that he has actually fallen into a metaphysical hole called a Philadelphia. In a Philadelphia everything goes wrong: the taxis don't take you where you want to go, the newsstands don't sell your newspaper, and no matter what you order at a restaurant, you'll end up with a cheesesteak. -from Wikipedia, "David Ives"
So I stopped by the food court in the building next to my office to get lunch. The food is surprisingly decent; but the last two times I went there I was overcharged. (Once, a double-charge for a coke; once, a double-charge for "protein", i.e. the chicken in the chicken nachos.) This time, I felt ready: this order got placed at the electronic kiosk, which helpfully printed out a receipt:
"I've got them now," I thought. "I'm not buying anything but this, so here I am, with my $5.01 ready. If she tries to charge me for the wrong thing, or she reads '$5.01' and punches it in and charges me that plus tax, or whatever, I'm ready."
Finally, I had my food and went to the cashier, who rang it in. "$5.02," she told me.
"Er--" I said. "This receipt said $5.01..."
"There's tax," she said. "$5.02."
And as I fumbled around for another penny, I took another look at the tax. $4.69, plus $0.33 tax, is...kind of pretty much not the $5.01 that was printed on the receipt I was holding.
Who the hell programs a machine to add wrong?
So I stopped by the food court in the building next to my office to get lunch. The food is surprisingly decent; but the last two times I went there I was overcharged. (Once, a double-charge for a coke; once, a double-charge for "protein", i.e. the chicken in the chicken nachos.) This time, I felt ready: this order got placed at the electronic kiosk, which helpfully printed out a receipt:
- Subtotal: $4.69
- Tax: $0.33
- Total: $5.01
"I've got them now," I thought. "I'm not buying anything but this, so here I am, with my $5.01 ready. If she tries to charge me for the wrong thing, or she reads '$5.01' and punches it in and charges me that plus tax, or whatever, I'm ready."
Finally, I had my food and went to the cashier, who rang it in. "$5.02," she told me.
"Er--" I said. "This receipt said $5.01..."
"There's tax," she said. "$5.02."
And as I fumbled around for another penny, I took another look at the tax. $4.69, plus $0.33 tax, is...kind of pretty much not the $5.01 that was printed on the receipt I was holding.
Who the hell programs a machine to add wrong?