Office Depot

Remember «The Borg»? You know, the half-​human half-​machine collective that populates a cube-​shaped spacecraft on Star Trek, TNG? When the Enterprise «away team» members beam aboard the cube ship, they can walk among the alien crew and plot their strategy, because the Borg appear not to notice until the humans do something that poses a threat. That’s sorta what it feels like at the customer service and checkout area at Office Depot. There’s a greeting at entry, and employees to help you in the middle. But, at the end, several people mill around behind counters, all busily engaged in tasks that are probably very important to someone, and no one looks the least bit concerned to close the sale. Next time, I’ll bring along my Klingon security officer — that’ll get their attention.