Last night Sarah and Keith were at the house for dinner. I was telling them about the vending machine in the upstairs kitchen of the building I work in. The employees in the building have discovered that you don't always need to spend the required sixty cents to buy a soda. The machine has a tendency to reject the quarters we put in, but if you push the button anyway, sometimes you get your soda. Other times it will take your money, but when you push the button, you may get 2 or in one case, 3 sodas for the price of 1.
I told them about the time a stranger was in the kitchen, trying to get a soda. I was in the kitchen washing some dishes. I noticed her frustration had increased as she tried over and over to put her money in, only to have the machine reject it. I turned around and said, "Try pushing the button anyway."
She gave me a confused look, but shrugged and pushed the button again. To her amazement, she was rewarded with the soda of her choice. The look on her face was worth a million dollars. There she stood with her money in one hand and her soda in the other. She looked at me gratefully, and went about her business.
As I concluded this story, Sarah, Keith and I started in on a list of things I "should have done." Our list included the outstretched Jedi arm, pointing in the direction of the vending machine and with head bent in concentration, and a moment of silence before looking at the woman and telling her, "push the button again."
Another scenario was to hold both hands in front of the machine, wiggle the fingers and mumble some sort of "magic words" and then direct the woman to "push the button again."
I suppose I could have done a quick snap of the fingers, or, I could have aimed the palm of my hand toward the machine, then moved it quickly from left to right, again commanding her to "push the button again."
I could have tried the famous Bewitched nose wriggling thing. But since I can't do that very well, it may not have worked. Perhaps Jeannie's folded arms, eyes blinking and head nodding would have been easier for me.
I have to keep these methods in mind for the next time I am in the kitchen with a desperate, caffeine-deprived customer.
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