an expected comeuppance

On March 23, I wrote of our city library's new elaborate, expensive automated book-return mechanism, which I called "an ingenious labor-saving device, that cost them tons of money, and I'm sure it will work just fine until the inevitable day, very soon, when it breaks down."

Today, less than one month later, was that day. I was in the library, about to check out some books, when I saw the long line next to me of people desperately informing a staff worker that all they wanted to do was return their books. All four portals of the thing were out of order, or "kaput" - a word I actually once got to use when reporting a broken railway ticket machine in Germany.