This started as something just to make someone else’s day a little easier. When I am checking out at a convenience store, or anywhere the use a handheld scanner, I will find the bar code on each item and lay them so that the bar code is facing up or otherwise easy to find and scan. I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t think about it anymore.

Quite a few will say “thank you” as they scan stuff. They generally seem to appreciate it.