BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / John at the Supermarket

**Posted by Mrs.Wenceslas** January 5, 2013 4:20 pm

I faced this machine once - in Hungary, so it was very funny, for I don´t speak that language. I turned it to English mode, but the shop assistant there didn´t understand any English. so amusing multilingual scene..and by the way, I was buying only alcohol (a lot of bottles for presents), so the security guys were really confused.

**Posted by erunyauve** January 6, 2013 2:43 am

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
I actually really enjoy going to those things now, as I basically just pretend I'm John every time. Sometimes I actually say his lines at the machine like, "yes alright, keep your voice down..."

I loved that scene - I've been talking to those machines for ages. People give me the strangest looks.

**Posted by The Doctor** January 6, 2013 5:55 am

erunyauve wrote:
I loved that scene - I've been talking to those machines for ages. People give me the strangest looks.

You should read 'Seven Days is just One Week' if you are curious to see how my usual shopping threatens to end at times

(yes, refering to Sherlock and the milk-scene)!

**Posted by Lily** February 21, 2013 4:40 pm

We don't have them here in Germany but when I was in England I never had problems with the machines.
The only issue was that the machine didn't want to accept my German card but I had an English card too, so it didn't really bother me.

**Posted by SusiGo** February 21, 2013 5:03 pm

We have a Real supermarket round the corner which has these cash machines. They are sometimes a bit moody but they usually work. I always think of John when going to there.

**Posted by beekeeper** April 1, 2013 11:13 pm

"maybe for some. In any case, why dissect what does not need dissecting? It's a straight forward scene."

uh...cos its fun and its only a tv show anyway? seriously, I don't do the shipper stuff so I just look away, easy, job done and everyone is happy.

**Posted by butterfly grl** June 28, 2013 6:52 pm

We have them everywhere here in America. Actually paying a cashier is unusual nowadays. You just run your card thru the reader, punch in your pin, and get a receipt from the cashier.

I get the pin part of chip and pin, but what is the chip?

**Posted by ancientsgate** June 28, 2013 9:58 pm

butterfly grl wrote:
We have them everywhere here in America. Actually paying a cashier is unusual nowadays. You just run your card thru the reader, punch in your pin, and get a receipt from the cashier. I get the pin part of chip and pin, but what is the chip?

In the US, we use the magnetic strip kind of credit/debit cards--- that dark line thing on the back that has to be run through a card reader to give the computer your info.

In the UK, they use the chip kind of card-- instead of a magnetic strip, there's a small square shiny little thing on the front of the card that contains your info. Instead of running the card through a magnetic card reader, it's simply held up to its own kind of reader, and the info is transferred. The end result is the same, but the mechanical process is different. A magnetic card reader can't read a chip card, and vice versa.

Here's a pic of a chip card. See that small square gold shiny place? That's the chip. That type of card will have no magnetic strip on the back.
http://www.watchdata.com/uploads/image/Live%20Fresh%20FINAL%20CARDFACE_Front-01.JPG

**Posted by butterfly grl** June 29, 2013 2:46 am

Ah! Thank you.
We are getting some of the "wave
and go" cards here. I guess we'll have to start calling them chip and pin machines

**Posted by Golddragon71** January 15, 2014 3:27 pm

I work at a Shop-Right here in New Jersey and we have four of the things right by our express register.
In our store the assistant man's a little standalone register right in front so he/she's always on hand.
still there's more than a few times we get someone who's just at the end of their rope and the machines have a talent for well, "cutting the rope"!