I ordered a pizza online the other day, after searching for a place I could order that didn’t have a login requirement. I was going to pay with cash, and I found a place a couple blocks away that just let me order, no new account.
I was jazzed. When I walked in 30 minutes later there were three people behind registers, each with a stack of long receipts in their hand. One said they would be with me in a moment and I commented, “are you folks having a receipt race?” They laughed, but replied that they had to get all these online orders into their system…
After a minute they were able to help me, but couldn’t find my order. Eventually someone noticed a receipt partially slipped under their keyboard. It was mine.
I waited about ten more minutes and got a free pizza. Interesting lesson in how all these online systems ultimately come together. Sometimes the glue between them is a person transcribing a stack of receipts…