Check It Out Lah

18th Sep 2006

Check It Out Lah
Vincent Murphy

Beep...beep...beep. It could be the sound of your alarm clock breaking the bad news that your slumber has come to an end. It could be the sound of the Kilkenny registered mini-cleaning trucks reversing on the pathways of Pana. It also be that repetitive ever-present sound you hear day in day out as a checkout assistant.

In today's world where we want everything as quickly and efficiently as possible, the notion of queuing for fifteen minutes at a supermarket till seems grossly inefficient when you could be at the gym, sending an email or calculating a mortgage repayment on your unit.

Boy meets girl: A student half hinting he might need help from a lovely Tesco assistant in Paul Street Shopping Centre.

THE MAGIC KEY
The illustrious 'checkout key' is the bane of most shoppers' lives. Having queued for twenty minutes on a busy Friday evening you may find yourself second in line to be served when the checkout girl's computer till malfunctions. The monotonous 'beep' sound suddenly stops and she begins to tap away furiously at the buttons.

A weary sigh and a "Jacintaaaaaa d'you've de key there?"fills the sonic void. Another beep operator replies without breaking the rhythm of her beep or turning around, "Nahhh '