One average Saturday at the greeting card shop. I was behind the counter dusting and waiting for my next customer. There is a woman standing near the entrance, a few feet away from the registers, talking on her cell phone which she is holding in one hand while trying to hang on to 5 or 6 items with her other arm. I hear something hit the ground, and turn to look. The woman has dropped one of her items. Without a pause in her conversation, she makes eye contact with me as she switches to supporting her phone with her shoulder, freeing up her hand to snap at me twice, then point to the item on the ground. I came around the counter to pick it up and hand it back to her. She couldn’t even pause her conversation long enough to say thank you.
When she finished her conversation and came up to check out, she placed her money on the counter instead of handing it to me. I briefly considered snapping twice and pointing to my open hand that was right next to the money, but I restrained myself.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MONTH LATER<<<<<<<<<<<<
My husband and I are done shopping at the local grocery store. We are next in line at the self-checkouts. There are only two self-checkouts open at the time, and both have customers who have just started their transactions. We have maybe 15 items or so. We hear a voice from behind us.
Woman: Do you mind if I go in front of you? I only have 2 things.
We aren’t in a hurry so I turn, fully prepared to say “Sure! Go ahead!” when I recognize the woman. It’s the customer from this story. So instead I smile and ask:
Me: Have you ever worked in a customer service position?
Her: Yes?
Me: Did you ever have a customer who acted so appallingly that it stuck in your memory?
Her: Yes…
Me: You were the woman at [my store] who dropped something and instead of picking it up yourself or asking for assistance, went – [snap snap point] – at me. So how bout you wait your turn.
She started to say something back, but at this point my husband started laughing pretty hard (he said afterwards it was mostly in shock since I don’t usually stand up for myself much) and she just pursed her lips and stood there. It was an awkward couple of minutes waiting after that.
posted by: dunicha
