*Side note, before I begin. This is my 200th blog post!! Thank you to all my followers and anyone who still sticks around to read my nonsense. I appreciate every one of you!*
**
It makes me sad to say that people haven’t gotten any nicer during the pandemic. They are more impatient, more demanding, and just more irritating. Going to work hasn’t been any easier. I’m stressed out before I even get in the store when I see how full the parking lot is when I get there. We’re supposed to be social distancing, right? So why is half the town spending the afternoon shopping in my small store? Why do people feel the need to get right up in my face to ask me a question? Ugh.
On a day I was working alone for a few hours, a woman came in. I was putting away candy near the register. She went to the back and grabbed a bag of dog food and on her way to check out, she walked right passed me. I said, “Be right there,” as I put the last few packages onto the shelf and stood up. She proceeded to ring the bell five times in rapid succession. So, I said, “Be right there,” again. I walked around the counter, but before I could get all the way to my register, she pushed the bag of dog food away and said, “Just forget it!” and then stormed out of the store. I was a little shocked so I turned around at the window and watched her get in her car.
She realizes I’m watching her and waves her hands around and I read her lips to know she said, “Why are you staring?” I decide to take it upon myself to be extra, since she’s being ridiculous. I wave and say, “Have a nice day!” And then she flips me off and says, “f*ck you!” She continues to rant but I’m no longer able to tell what she’s saying. Then she slams the car into drive and speeds away.
I never really understand why people leave when they’re in a hurry. Like…now you have to stop somewhere else to get the item. When you could have just waited two more seconds for me to get to the counter and ring you up. But I guess I should have run to ring her up. Or hopped the counter so I didn’t need to go all the way around. Or teleported. Because all of those are realistic options.
Another day, a conversation with a regularly angry customer went like this;
Her: Do you have graduation cards?
Me: Not if there aren’t any over the-
Her: There’s nothing over there.
Me: Then we don’t have any right now.
Her: Are you going to get any at all?
Me: I’m not really sure, since Hallmark is closed rig-
Her: So no, you’re not going to get any. *Stomps away and leaves the store.*
Sigh. First, I love it so much when people cut me off. They ask me a question and don’t let me get out my full response. It really makes my day. Then the whole, “there’s nothing over there.” Yes, I’m sure that the card rack is completely empty. There’s not a single thing over there. Nada. And I am just so sorry that greeting cards aren’t considered essential so the people who send them to stores aren’t working right now. How dare they, really. Don’t they know people need cards to survive? Not like it’s possible to just make one yourself. That’s crazy talk. Markers and paper aren’t real. Computer programs that let you print out generic cards don’t exist either. There’s absolutely no way to give someone a greeting card without buying one from the store. What ever shall we do?
Another afternoon, I was on the register while my cashier took his break. It was pretty busy and I didn’t leave the counter for the entire hour. A young-ish girl with her child in the basket was near the medicine. After I noticed her wander back and forth a few times she came to ask me where the melatonin was and if we had rubbing alcohol. A few minutes later she came through the line with a 20oz sprite and one $1 bill in her hand. The price with tax for a 20oz coke product is $2.11. When I tell her this, she stares at me blankly with the $1 in her hand. People are lining up behind her. She finally says, “Don’t you have anything for a dollar?” I tell her where to find the $1 drinks. She walks away.
I ring up a few more people before she comes back through the line. She now has a 1L sprite. Which is $1.35 with tax. (Makes so much sense, I know. 20 oz drinks are cold, you get charged extra for the convenience.) She still only has $1. She asks the girl in line behind her if she has a quarter. She doesn’t.
Now, normally, I will be nice and fudge the change for people if they’re nice or regulars or if they say “let me get the change from the car.” The last one is mostly just because I don’t want to wait. But I didn’t feel inclined to short my drawer for this girl because then she says, “Can’t you just give it to me? I’m thirsty and don’t have anything to drink.”
Sigh. No. I can’t just “give it to you.” That’s not how stores work. My response to her was, “There is literally something you can afford over there, so no.” Because there are plenty of options for her to pick from that would only cost her $1. Shoot, there’s a few things that cost less than a dollar. But she didn’t want to pick one of those. And she obviously wasn’t dying of thirst, or maybe I would have said she could have a water for free. Not a 1L of sprite though. You don’t NEED that. So, she huffs and puffs and then leaves without buying anything.
My main question though is, how was she planning to pay for the melatonin and rubbing alcohol If I’d had any? She only had $1. Did my lack of product in stock prevent thievery? Probably. But oh well.
I could go on and on. There have been so many people being ridiculous in my store lately that I could barely pick these three to focus on. It’s really been special out there lately.