I should know better

Sometimes we make choices that seem smart at the time, but then we realize that they really are not so smart after all. For the fleeting moment you react on impulse and then... you get what you deserve.

My case in point: I wanted to make enlargements of a couple photos I had played around with to create a collage.  Nothing earth shattering, just somethings I wanted for Monday morning.

I stopped by the local pharmacy to use their self-serve kiosk. As luck would have it, the USB port on the machine wasn't working. Okay, no big deal. I could wait until I get to the city and stop by Meijer.*

Then the lightbulb came on. Walmart! I could just zip over there, run in, make the prints and be back home in a half hour.

No such luck.

I check out the kiosks, stepping up to one with and "Instant Prints" sign on top and touch the start key on the screen.

I load my prints, thinking 8x10s would be great.  Whoa, not at nearly $5.00 each.  Okay, so I'll get 5x7s.

How do I delete the 8x10s?  What the heck?  GRRRRRR.  Start over.  (sigh)

So I load the prints, again, and move along in the process.  For some reason the damn machine wants to crop my photos.  Ah, there's a no crop choice.

Finally, after about 15 minutes of fooling around, I hit the print button, which triggers a receipt from the kiosk. I can retrieve my photos from another machine.

The next machine has a barcode scanner on top, so I scan my receipt and the display says that I'm No. 5 in the que and my prints will be available in about 32 minutes.

WHAT is instant about a 32 minute wait?  Apparently the young couple at another machine were printing every photo they've ever taken in their 20-something lives.

I am not amused.  Waiting is not my strong suit when I'm already annoyed.

Thankfully, it only took about 29 minutes for my prints to be ready.  Ready with edges cropped off even with the "No Crop" option.

As I go to the counter for the clerk to give me a price tag, and ask why the machine cropped my photos when I chose "No Crop."

"The photos all have some cropping," the clerk replies, "otherwise there would be a white board on  the edges."

The preview had white edges!  (sigh)

Wait, this is Walmart. Yeah, you can kick me in the azz.  I'm an idiot.

I should know better... I got exactly what I deserved.

*Meijer is a department store chain based in Grand Rapids, MI with stores in the Midwest.