Page 2 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - April 12, 2023

2 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK APRIL 12, 2023
Being Nice Is Hard To Do
“Kids need love most when they’re acting most unlovable.”
— Erma Bombeck
A month before my 15th birthday, I eagerly awaited my fifth sum- mer at Camp Pinemere, nestled in the North Woods of Wiscon- sin. Eight weeks of swimming, canoeing and crafts — living with six other girls in a cabin that had one cold-water sink
W Help Yourself
hen I was in high school, I worked part time
“I wasn’t a good camp citi- zen? I did all those bad things?” I didn’t recognize myself. What was Mrs. Goold talking
and journalist mother lovingly came to my rescue. First, they gently extracted the following promise from me, even though I still didn’t understand why. They composed a humble letter to Mrs. Goold begging her to let me enroll again, promising that I would be nice and not critical. The letter worked. I was invited back.
as a grocery stock clerk/cashier. I loved being
about?
My psychoanalyst father
Although I managed to stifle my judgmental self, my some- times-wicked side refused to cooperate. I played tennis and won my only competitive game — because I cheated! I called one of my opponent’s shots “out” when it wasn’t. No counselor was there to witness my crime.
“Girls, I neglected to give out one award: a Pine Branch, the second-highest award given at Camp Pinemere. This year’s winner is Rosemary Pollack.”
a cashier because we got to work with the sin- gle, young and pretty female cashiers. But I also loved it because of the interaction we had with customers. Sure, there was the occasional tough customer, but for the most part, this was in the town of Wahiawā, where people were really nice. On holidays, customers would bring us gifts and bags of fruit during lychee season. While we refused monetary tips, it was tough to turn down baked goods and food made specifically for us by grateful customers.
and a counselor.
My parents sent in the
Apparently, I had learned to be nice — most of the time.
And while we tried to process each customer quickly, the friendly conversations we had certainly made my day. So, I appreciate the work of cashiers, no matter what the business, because I’ve done that job and understand what it takes.
check. But immediately they received a letter back from Mrs. Goold, the camp own- er. Mother scanned the letter, blanched, then read it aloud.
Rosemary Mild’s essays ap- pear in her new book “In My Next Life I’ll Get It Right.” She and Larry, cheerful partners in crime, coauthor mystery and suspense novels and stories. Visit them at magicile.com.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
The thing is, in 2023, it seems that everything is going the way of self-service and self-checkout. Gas stations pi- oneered the self-service mode. Anyone remember “Coin Power” gas stations? It was the same with banks and ATMs. Remember “OTTO?”
“Dear Dr. and Mrs. Pollack: Rosemary is not invited back! Last summer, she constantly criticized the other girls, the activities and the counselors. She did not meet the happy standard of behavior that we require of our campers.”
During that summer, I learned exhilarating skills. I could now do a swan dive and jackknife. I passed the windy day test, paddling alone in a canoe a quarter mile and back
At the awards banquet, many girls won awards. I didn’t. Af- terward, we trooped outside for the evening ceremony of “taps” and the lowering of the American flag. Mrs. Goold always presided. But first, she made an announcement.
Sure enough, she beat me and even stepped up to my register to help me navigate the touch screen and payment process. It was a twist on the old adage: “The cashier who checks themselves out has a fool for a customer.” Or something like that.
Recently, my wife and I tried out a fast-food self-or- dering process. I did all the ordering. When we got our food, my wife noticed her order was wrong. It was all downhill from there, as she had no one to blame but me.
When we got home, I tried to make light of it by saying, “Thank God for me that there’s no such thing as self-ser- vice laundry!” My wife laughed and said, “Don’t push your luck, honey. You never heard of a laundromat?”
I was too baffled to cry.
without drifting. I became co- editor of the camp newsletter. One of my cabinmates asked us to take a picture of her na- ked. I shook my head, but kept my mouth shut.
with Rosemary Mild
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT/ SUPPLEMENT PRODUCTS RON NAGASAWA
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
BILL MOSSMAN
MANAGING EDITOR
NICOLE MONTON
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER
DENNIS FRANCIS
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER
DAVE KENNEDY
SALES MANAGER
SIERRA HETHCOTE
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Fill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column, and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest). Answers are on page 7
RATING: GOLD
Now, when grocery shopping, you have the choice of going to a conventional cashier or through the self-check- out. My first experience with self-checkout wasn’t so great. I could figure out how to get my bar-coded stuff through, but when it came to stuff sans barcode (like fresh produce), I’d have to seek out a cashier to guide me through it. So, I end up spending more time at a self-checkout than if I went to a “human” cashier.
And I’m not alone. I’ve noticed now that the lines to use the self-checkout are longer than the convention- al cashier lines. Once, I raced my wife and told her to go through the cashier line and I would go through the self-checkout.
rnagasawa@midweek.com