Unexpected Item

At the self-service till,  
the lemon weighs more  
than the machine expects.  

“Unexpected item in bagging area.”  

It is a lemon.  
I don’t say this.  
The queue is close enough  
to hear me lose an argument  
with a piece of fruit.  

There is a button for Help.  
I know where it is.  
Knowing where help is  
and pressing it  
are apparently separate skills.  

The old instructions have survived  
every update:  
be useful; have an answer;  
carry the heavy thing  
without making a story of it.  

Now they arrive  
under better lighting:  
a ring light,  
a link,  
a monthly fee.  
Be self-sufficient.  
The link is just below the video.  

I have learned to call exhaustion  
discipline,  
and silence  
being easy to live with.  

The till asks me to lift the lemon,  
then put it back.  
I do.  
The red light stays on.  

I press Help.  

A cashier comes over.  
They take the lemon,  
enter a code,  
set it back on the scale.  
The machine accepts its weight.  

A clean beep.  
The screen goes green.  

The cashier turns to the next person.  
I say, “Thanks.”  

The machine says, “Thank you for shopping.”  

One of those thanks has a body.