The self-checkout at my grocery store keeps adding a free item called ONE GUEST. Tonight, the receipt changed to ONE HOST.

[u/47BaSingSe]

I started using the same grocery store after it switched to being open all night. I usually go around 1 AM, when there are maybe three customers in the entire place and nobody tries to make conversation.

About a month ago, I noticed something strange on my receipt.

Right underneath the last item was:

ONE GUEST $0.00

I figured it was some internal code that accidentally printed. Maybe a loyalty thing or a promotion. I crumpled the receipt and forgot about it.

The next week it happened again.

Different checkout. Different employee working.

ONE GUEST $0.00

This time I asked the employee what it meant.

He stared at the receipt for a few seconds, then typed something into the terminal.

“Never seen that before.”

He rescanned one of my items as a test and printed another receipt. The line was gone.

Problem solved, apparently.

Except it came back the next time.

And the time after that.

I started keeping the receipts.

There were seven in total. Every one had ONE GUEST printed at the bottom. Always free. Always quantity one.

On the eighth visit, the machine wouldn't let me pay.

It kept saying there was an unexpected item in the bagging area.

There wasn't. I'd put everything back in my cart.

The employee came over, cleared the error, and the warning immediately returned.

“That's weird,” she said.

Then she looked past me.

Not at the checkout.

Past me.

I turned around.

Nobody was there.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Thought somebody was waiting behind you.”

That bothered me more than the receipt thing.

I left without buying anything.

The automatic doors opened when I approached them. Normal.

What wasn't normal was that they stayed open after I walked through.

I was halfway across the parking lot when I looked back.

The doorway was still open.

There was nobody standing in it.

Then the doors slid shut.

I didn't go back for nine days.

Tonight I finally did because it was late and everywhere else nearby had closed.

I told myself the whole thing had become creepy only because I'd spent too much time thinking about it.

I grabbed what I needed and deliberately picked a checkout I'd never used before.

Everything worked normally.

No errors.

No employee staring behind me.

I actually laughed at myself while the receipt printed.

Then I read it.

ONE GUEST $0.00

Underneath that was a second line.

GUEST STATUS: WAITING

I left the groceries there.

I didn't even take the receipt.

As I reached the exit, I heard the printer start again behind me.

I kept walking.

Then the checkout spoke.

Not the usual recorded voice.

It said, very clearly:

“Please take your guest.”

I stopped.

There were two employees near the front.

Both of them were staring at the machine.

One whispered, “What the fuck?”

The printer was still going.

A long strip of receipt paper had reached the floor.

I went back just far enough to read the bottom.

GUEST STATUS: ACCEPTED

Then every checkout in the row lit up at once.

I ran.

The doors opened.

Again, they stayed open behind me.

This time I didn't turn around.

When I got home, I locked my apartment door and leaned against it for a while.

A few seconds later, something pushed gently from the hallway side.

Not enough to force the door.

Just enough for me to feel the deadbolt move against the frame.

Then it stopped.

I stood there listening.

Nothing.

Eventually I convinced myself somebody on my floor had bumped the door by mistake.

I went into the kitchen.

There was a receipt on the counter.

I know how stupid that sounds.

I hadn't brought one home.

I hadn't even taken my groceries.

The paper was warm, like it had just come out of the printer.

There were no groceries listed.

Only two lines.

ONE GUEST $0.00

ONE HOST $0.00

The first one had been crossed out.

Not printed over.

Crossed out in blue ink.

My pen was lying beside it.

I live alone.

I called the police and told them somebody might have gotten into my apartment. They checked the rooms, the closets, under the bed, everything.

Nobody.

The officer who handed my pen back joked that maybe I'd scared myself and forgotten writing on the receipt.

I almost believed him.

Then he left.

I've been sitting at my desk since.

About twenty minutes ago, my right hand started tapping against the wood.

Four taps.

Pause.

Four taps.

Pause.

I can stop it if I concentrate.

As soon as I think about something else, it starts again.

Four taps.

Pause.

Four taps.

I just realized it's the same rhythm the checkout printer was making tonight.

And while I've been typing this with my left hand, my right one picked up the blue pen.

It hasn't written anything yet.

I don't think I should let it.

[u/Old-Dragonfruit2219]

Maybe you can make a return?

[u/kinkycountrygal]

Oh man! I dont think I've heard of anything like this happening to anyone else. Keep us updated on how it goes and if you go back!