Incomplete

The highlight of my day
Was one transaction
That disabled four registers
Leaving me, the supervisor, the manager, and tech support
Scrambling for what to do
It turned out
That one receipt added on to her husky card
So she could get her 10% patronage refund
Was added incompletely
It was that incompletion
That shorted out four registers
That stressed countless employees
Held up customers
But soon got fixed
By tech support
In twenty years
Of cashiering
I've never seen
Four registers disabled by one transaction
Now I know
Just a little more
We are all
Incomplete.

Denis Streeter 10/4/11