I recently bought a four-pack of Play-Doh — big plans for the weekend — at my local Toys R Us and received, along with my purchase, over a foot and a half of receipt. That comes out to almost an inch of paper for every dime I spent. Here it is, broken down by height in inches:
| Sweepstakes Portion |
|---|
| Top margin |
0.50 |
| Logo |
0.75 |
| Feedback invitation, “$200 weekly sweepstakes” |
1.00 |
| “See our website for complete rules” |
0.50 |
| URL |
0.25 |
| Spanish with character encoding problems, “espan¿ol” |
0.50 |
| Deadline |
0.50 |
| Log-in information |
0.50 |
| Purchase Portion |
|---|
| Top margin |
0.25 |
| Logo |
0.75 |
| “SAVE ALL RECEIPTS” |
0.25 |
| Phone and address |
0.25 |
| Requirement of receipt for returns |
0.50 |
| Inscrutable internal codes |
0.75 |
| Item description, cost and UPC |
0.25 |
| Subtotal, tax, total, tender and change |
1.00 |
| Cashier’s name |
0.50 |
| Bar code and receipt number |
0.75 |
| Thank you and URL |
0.25 |
| Recall information and job opportunities |
0.25 |
| Notice of return policy |
0.25 |
| Time stamp |
0.50 |
| Gift Receipt Portion |
|---|
| Top margin |
0.50 |
| Logo |
0.75 |
| “SAVE ALL RECEIPTS” |
0.25 |
| Phone and address |
0.25 |
| Requirement of receipt for returns |
0.50 |
| Inscrutable internal codes |
0.75 |
| ”**** GIFT RECIEPT ****” |
0.25 |
| Item description, UPC and tax rate |
1.00 |
| ”**** GIFT RECIEPT ****” |
0.25 |
| Mislabeled “TOTAL” with receipt number |
0.25 |
| Gift receipt explanation |
1.00 |
| Bar code and receipt number |
0.75 |
| Thank you and URL |
0.25 |
| Recall information and job opportunities |
0.25 |
| Notice of return policy |
0.25 |
| Time stamp |
0.50 |
Another recent receipt from Home Depot — for a screw that cost less than a buck — was twelve and a half inches long. A weekly shopping trip to Ralphs leaves us with a couple of feet of receipt.
And all of them have that pink stripe, because the damned paper tape roll is always running out.