In a large pharmacy near Union Square I head upstairs to pick up my ‘sleep aid.’ Like many chain pharmacies in New York, the layout of this store has been stretched and rearranged to suit the eccentric real estate that contains it – which in this case means being squeezed through a boxy storefront and into an upstairs that fills the entire second floor of the building. I find my product on the shelf and see that it’s advertised as half-off ($5.49 instead of $10.99). I check and recheck the sale sticker, making sure I’m within the sale dates and that no special conditions apply (such as having a loyalty card, etc.) Finally convinced, I take back downstairs, where I wait in the snaking line for an open cashier. When my turn arrives the clerk rings up my items and the sleep aid comes up as $10.99. I say, ‘Sorry, but I think that item might be on sale. It was advertised for something like half off.’ ‘No,’ the clerk says, ‘it comes up as $10.99,’ and she points at the computer screen. Irritated, I hand her my card and pay. When I leave the line I decide to head back upstairs to double check, wondering if I may have misread something in the advertisement. But no: the sale is incontestably valid. I go in search of another clerk, and she accompanies me back to where the item sits. She reads the sale posting, reads my receipt, consults the posting again. Sure enough, I’m right. She beckons for me to follow her back downstairs, where she tracks down a manager. She explains the situation to him. ‘Just override it,’ he says, and shrugs. Together we march over to the checkout line. But now it’s crowded and we have to wait our turn. Finally the clerk who conducted the original transaction is free and my helper/advocate repeats the story to her about what occurred. After hearing this the cashier turns to me: ‘Well you didn’t tell me it was $5.49!’ ‘Um, right,’ I say, trying to maintain an even tone, ‘but I definitely told you it was on sale, and you stated it wasn’t.’ ‘Well,’ she replies, ‘If we don’t have it in the system it’s going to show up as being the regular price. You have to tell us if it’s discounted.’ ‘Wait,’ I say, and turn to my helper for support, ‘You’re telling me that as a customer, I’m supposed to memorize the sale price so I can tell you what to enter it into the computer? How is this not automatic?’ My helper shrugs. The cashier shrugs. She punches some numbers into her screen and says, ‘It’ll be taken off your card. Have a nice day.’