Checkout Dispute Escalates to Jurassic Park

A supermarket checkout dispute reached its natural conclusion when police arrested a couple dressed as dinosaurs.

The pair allegedly became involved in a fight with another customer while waiting in a checkout line at a Publix supermarket. Most queue disagreements concern whose turn it is, whether someone has too many items, or why the person in front has apparently chosen this exact moment to learn how a bank card works. This one came with tails.

The available details do not identify the couple, the other customer, or the particular sort of dinosaurs represented by the costumes. What is known is that the argument escalated beyond the usual restrained sighing expected beside the conveyor belt and became serious enough for police to attend.

Officers arrested both costumed members of the couple after the alleged fight. Thus the supermarket’s brief Cretaceous period was brought to an orderly close by modern law enforcement, presumably allowing the remaining shoppers to return to the less dramatic business of paying for groceries.

There is no indication that the costumes prevented officers from making the arrests. Nor is there any suggestion that the incident involved an escaped theme-park attraction, an experiment in cloning, or anything more prehistoric than two people who happened to be dressed as dinosaurs while allegedly fighting with a fellow customer.

The incident stands as a useful reminder that clothing can substantially alter the atmosphere of an otherwise ordinary disagreement. A row at the tills is regrettable. A row at the tills involving two dinosaurs is an extinction event for everyone’s dignity.

No further information was provided about injuries, the cause of the dispute, the precise location of the store, when the incident occurred, or the charges the couple may face. Their next steps will therefore depend on the police and courts. Publix, meanwhile, can reasonably expect future customers to understand that checkout lines operate on a first-come, first-served basis, regardless of geological era.