Technobabble

A girl enters the store one afternoon. She has a smartphone in her hand and she is busy tapping away at the touchscreen. She pulls a tag off a case and brings it up to the counter. Fernando fills out the slip and retrieves the movie, which he sets on the countertop.

She's still engrossed in whatever is going on in the world of electronic communication, to the point that she does not register that Fernando has returned with the movies.

Rather than proceed with the transaction, he waits.

About a minute and two buzzes later she comes up for air. “Oh!” she says, taking the movie in its case. She turns and starts walking towards the door, head buried in her phone-life again.

“It'll be three-fifty, actually.”

She stops, looks back at Fernando, down at the phone. Tap-tap-tap. Looks up. “What?”

“You forgot to pay.”

“Oh.” She pulls a crinkled five dollar bill out of the pocket of her shorts and drops it on the counter. “You should have said something before.”

“I didn't want to interrupt you.” He extends an arm to hand over her change. Her face is buried in smartphone heaven. He puts it on top of the case.

She finishes the thing she was doing. “Oh.” She pushes open the door with her side as she departs. Fernando hears a faint buzz. The movie is now wedged under one arm, as her hands are once again occupied by the smartphone.

Fernando's hypothetical offspring would be punished for such breaches of social etiquette.