four inches max

tonight, i stop in at kroger to pick up some lemon juice to season my brand new starbucks barista solo. i grab a couple of bottles and head to the self-checkout. as i approach, i notice the coffee flavored kit-kat and pick one very intrigued. i get to my self-service register, i enter my critera, laser scan my three items, and press the "pay now" button.

and then it happened, just like it always does. i wait for a minute while the little printer spits out two miles of paper with not only my itemized purchase, but the store information, percentage of savings, strange information about my fuel balance, an ad from kroger, the fine print for the ad, timedate stamp along with extra numbers (in case i need them?), instructions on how to use the fuel balance (still not sure what that is), and the ultimate savings this time in big, bold letters at the bottom.

ok, it wasn't two miles. it was only about a foot's worth of paper. but i think at most i only needed four inches of paper to tell me how much three items cost me. i like the timestamp. that's always handy. the problem is that i keep my receipts from my debit card. now i have to fold this thing up and stick it in my wallet. imagine what it's like when i get regular groceries. (hint: really two miles.)

what might be cool is if they were to print out the latest headlines from google or yahoo or foxnews. a weather forecast would be nice. "it's going to rain in the next five minutes, so better get these groceries to your car quickly." that would be a good idea. it's a good place for a silly fortune like you get in the chinese cookies. "you will cook like a pro tonight and you dress nice." heck, that's even a bit of encouragement. what about double-sided printing? can't tell me it's not possible.

if i have to wad it up and take it with me, make it entertaining at least. if not, just give me the basics. i like a thin wallet.