"Huffing, she gathers her shtuff and goes to another aisle to the soft delighted cheers from the other customers, and the stifled smirk from the clerk."

.,,.

Why did the checkout person 'smirk'? Why, I mean to imply by the question, are they not instructed to refuse to check out baskets with more than the max # of items specified by the checkout, but to direct them, after the have queued and reached the till, to another checkout. Surely that would be the most effective way of dealing with such selfish nuisances.

The is not to detract from your effective achievement, Saul; but just to suggest that if the shop were doing its job, it would not have been necessary.

~M~