Inflation Exit Only

A single-panel supermarket scene staged like airport security: at the exit, shoppers are funneled through a metal detector arch labeled "INFLATION CHECK." Their grocery bags are comically tiny—maybe just a loaf of bread and one egg carton—while a conveyor scanner beside the gate confiscates items from their pockets and pay envelopes: a cost-of-living raise, a tax refund check, tips, and loose change, dumping everything into an oversized transparent bin marked "PRICE ADJUSTMENTS." On the other side of the frame, the entrance doors are propped wide open under a cheerful sign reading "TEMPORARY," and fully loaded carts of groceries glide in freely, untouched. The key visual contradiction is that the only thing being screened on the way out is the shopper's money, while inflation itself is treated like a brief guest even as it keeps emptying people out.