Manners are free!

I'm not sure if I should be offended or not by this comment...Let me tell you what it is and perhaps you can help me out. So, I was putting on my shoe this morning and I flinched sorta as I put it on because my right foot is killing me because my knee is all kinds of messed up and keeps giving out, so I've been baby-ing it, so my foot hurts from not walking on it correctly. Whew! That was a long sentence. Anyway, so my foot hurts badly, like by the time I get home from work I want to cry it hurts so bad. But I digress...So, I'm putting on my shoe and I get this (Don't quote me on it because it's probably not her exact words, but the gist is there...): "I don't think you're cut out to work." Of course, I was instantly offended and no amount of backpedaling was going to dig her back out, even as she said, "You were meant to be a writer...Or a comedian, but ultimately a writer," as though this is going to save her. I said, "I didn't go to school to be a laborer," which is basically what my job is, mixed with some customer service. Should I be offended or take pride that I am not built to be a grunt? Hmmm...


Speaking of being a grunt...My job sucks ass. Here are a couple of examples of what makes my days so crappy.


Customer 1- "Can I have a pound of the white American cheese?" she asks. "Sure," I reply. "How would you like that cut?" She looks at me as though I'm crazy before telling me that she wants it in a chunk...One chunk, so my cut better be right. And she adds, "I don't want it over a pound...Not even a little bit over." How the hell am I supposed to exactly cut a pound from a block of cheese??? I weighed the cheese and it was close to two pounds, so I tried to slice it in half-ish...Yeah, it was 1.1 pounds. She was impatient and said, "Whatever. I'll take it." Seriously, what the hell did this woman expect!? I was flying blind! I can get stuff right on the dot if I'm slicing it, but not in a chunk!!


Customer 2- "I need half a pound of salami." I told her we were out of hard salami, but that we had Genoa Salami. She rolled her eyes, but said that was fine. When I asked how she wanted it, she said "THIN!" So, I sliced it thin and showed it to her to check, she said, "THINNER!" Seriously, she wanted the shit see-through. Whatever. All I know is that it was jamming the slicer and I had to keep fighting with it, which apparently pissed the lady off, although I don't know why because she wasn't the one wrestling with the machine. Nor did she have to worry about slicing off her fingers and destroying the store's record of 6 months without an employee accident!! She got mad and said, "I'll take whatever you cut already. I have things to do." I said, "Give me just a second, please. I'll get it, but the machine is jamming." She continued to get more pissed at me, as though I could remedy the situation...Whatever. Even another woman in line saw that the woman was being outrageous and that I was fighting with the machine, not getting upset with the woman. Who the hell gets see-through meat anyway!? It's not freakin' piscutto (I don't know how to spell it...It's like bacon, but sliced thinly and doesn't need to be cooked...). When I gave it to her, she said, "It's for a Brazilians recipe I have." I smiled and told her have a good day, but I thought, "Yeah, because Brazilians are known for their love of salami!" *rolls eyes*


Customer 3- This woman came up and as I asked, "How can I help you?" She slams a huge chub of chopped ham on the counter and growls, "Cut this on a one!" Just as I was about to say that I'm not sure I'm allowed to do that, she glared at me and I saw "customer complaint" written all over her face, so I didn't argue. I cut all three pounds of this stupid chub of nasty, fake ham for her. While I did this, a huge line formed at the deli and all this woman did was yell at her kids. Like I couldn't get done with it quickly enough. I found out a few moments after I was done helping her that she's been told repeatedly, even by the managers, that we aren't allowed to do it for her, but she still comes over and yells at anyone who disagrees with her...Good thing I just gave her her way...Although, next time she comes back, we're going to have problems...It's people like her that make reaffirm my belief that children should not be taken out of the house in dirty clothes and without shoes. Sure, it's Phoenix and it's warm, but this doesn't mean kids should be running around shoeless...That's so white trash.


I know, you guys are thinking, "Umm...Haven't you seen that email with the pics of the Walmart shoppers? Didn't you expect this?" Yes, I suppose I did, but I don't deal well with stupidity and grossness. Is that a word? It should be. Our customers, okay not all of them, but a lot of them, are just plain gross. They're trashy and...Never mind. I'm going to stop before I sound snobbish...Here's the thing though, I've never heard of anyone so poor that they could not afford manners, but apparently, that's what's wrong with so many of our customers...Remember folks, good manners are free and should be used liberally.