Cough, Cough. Touch, Touch.

Yesterday we had a guy wandering around the store, coughing into his hand, and then touching stuff.

Cough, cough. Touch, touch.

Germs everywhere -- ew!

"Does Coffee Count?"

A couple approached our front door with coffee cups in their hands. The woman pointed to our "No food or drinks" sign and read it to the man. He poked his head in the door and asked, "Does coffee count as a drink?"

On the one hand, congrats for reading the sign. On the other hand, in what universe is coffee not considered a drink?

If You're Old Enough To Open The Door...

The other day Tofutti Cutie and I witnessed a kid hold open our heavy front door while his mother carried his stroller up the stairs and through the door.

Tofutti Cutie said, "If you're old enough to open the door, you're old enough not to use a stroller."

Nonsensical Change

A customer's total came to $8.65. She handed me $10.25. English was clearly not her first language, so I thought she might be confused about our money. (Foreigners are often confused about our coins. Understandably, in my opinion, since our coins don't have numbers on them.) I asked her if she meant to give me ten dollars and twenty-five cents. She said she did.

So... She gave me a ten dollar bill and a quarter. And I gave her one dollar, two quarters, and a dime back in change.

Huh?

Whispering

The other day I rang up a woman who was speaking French with her young daughter. At one point the little girl wanted to say something to her mother in private, so she whispered -- in French!

It was so cute!

If You're Going To Complain....

.... Then complain to the right person!

Today I talked to a customer who was upset with the way one of my co-workers treated her son. She first asked for a manager. There wasn't one available, so I asked if I could help her. In a very passive-aggressive way, she said, "No, nevermind." After some more encouragement, she told me what was wrong. I offered to give her the office number. Again, "No, it's fine, whatever."

Clearly, it was not fine, so I told her that she was welcome to complain and again offered her the office number. Obviously miffed, she declined and left unhappy.

If you're going to complain, complain to the right person: the manager or owner.

Don't bitch at the clerk -- we have no power!!

Huh?

"Can you order _____? I don't want to get it, I just want to know if you can order it."

The icing on this particular cake was that she said this to me while I was ringing up a young man, trying to count the money he had given me. Needless to say, I lost count and had to start over.

Headphones

Lots of people -- including me -- shop with headphones in their ears. I've got no problem with that. What drives me crazy is when people come up to the cash register with their headphones still in their ears.

If they haven't turned the music off, they're not going to hear me when I say things like "Is this debit or credit?"

If they have turned the music off, well, how can I tell? It feels pretty rude from this side of the counter.

Ring, Ring (Take 2)

Before we open: Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. .... Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. ....

After we open: .....


Why did they stop calling?? If it was the first person in the door, then why was he calling? He didn't ask any questions -- so why was he calling? Did he want to know what time we opened? If he was outside the door, he could just read the sign.

If it wasn't him, then who was it??

Eyes As Big As Saucers

I rang up a man whose total was about $8.50. After the transaction was completed, his (10-year-old?) son came up and asked him how much it came to.

I replied, "A hundred and five."

You know the expression, "eyes as big as saucers"? Seriously, they were!

After a couple of seconds, he turned to his dad and said, "How much did it really cost?"

"Have You Seen My Kids?"

Strange, but I don't remember being hired as a babysitter....

"Do You Have ... ?"

An actual phone conversation:


customer: Do you have ____ ?

me: No, I'm sorry, we don't.

customer: Really?? A store in Portland does.

me: ......

Schedule Snafus

This morning I noticed that our posted work schedule didn't go past today. I figured my boss would post a new one before the end of the day. A half-hour before I was supposed to leave, we still didn't have a new schedule. I called my boss to remind him that we needed one. Somewhat annoyed, he said he was working on it. I apologized, thanked him, and hung up.

When I left work, we still didn't have a schedule!!

You guys know that "snafu" is an acronym, right? And you know what it stands for, right?

Winter Weather

Today I chatted with a woman as I was ringing her up. She said that she felt like winter had gone on too long. I pointed out that it was still early January!

I think I get her point, though: Seattle's had a lot of crazy weather in the last two months! November was the wettest month on record, and December had snow, ice, and a nasty wind storm.

Will we make it to March??!?

Store Credits

A woman returned something. I gave her store credit.

A few minutes later, she found something she wanted to buy. It didn't use all her credit, so I re-issued her store credit.

A few minutes after that, she found something else she wanted to buy. She used up all her credit.

If she had taken my suggestion of looking around first, she would have saved me a lot of paperwork!

Lotto Ticket

I found a lotto ticket on the floor today. I read the back and was amused to see the warnings printed there:

-Do not iron.

-Avoid heat.

-Keep dry.


My favorite is the first one!