Out of Order

I could hear the squeaky sound of wet sneakers on the floor. I barely raised my eyes from my laptop, enough to observe a boy with jet-black hair saunter over to the vending machine up against the wall. Though I was focused on my writing, I could tell that he pulled a wadded-up one dollar bill from his pocket and shoved it into the machine. His black fingernails punched the buttons, and then there was a loud BEEP! as the machine announced that his selection was sold out. I heard the boy mumble something under his breath, then he turned and shuffled down the hallway.

            I pounded away at my keyboard, only semi-conscious of the people walking past my table, chatting and going about their day. Presently the click, click, click of high heels stopped in front of the machine. Clink, clink, clink. Her change echoed as she dropped each coin into the machine. She made her selection. BEEP! She made another selection. BEEP! She hit the coin return button, and waited for the clink, clink, clink of change. Instead, she heard the mocking BEEEEEEP! of the machine, signaling that it was out of order. The woman sighed, then click, click, clicked away.

            I considered warning the next gentleman who visited the machine that it was out of order, but then I deviously decided to fake ignorance. He nodded his head to acknowledge me. I smiled naively, then my fingers fled to the keys on my computer. I typed a lot of nonsense as my eyes flitted from the computer screen, to the man fumbling through his wallet, then back again. He inserted a crisp, clean one dollar bill into the hungry machine. As I expected, the machine would not give him a drink, or his money back. The man picked up his briefcase and disappeared down the hall. He returned a few minutes later, this time with the sound of change jingling in his pockets. This guy is not going to give up, I thought to myself as I heard his change hit the bottom of the machine. The next sound I heard was the machine singing to him. BEEP! I met his eyes as he turned to continue on his way again. I shrugged my shoulders and gave him a sympathetic smile.

            I checked my phone to see what time it was, then shut down my computer and put it in my book bag. As I started to walk away, I absentmindedly hit a button on the machine. I heard a THUD!, and stopped in my tracks. I turned to see an orange soda that had been dispensed from the machine. I picked it up and heard a satisfying psssssshhhhh as I popped the top. I took a long, cool sip, and then headed to class.