Crazy Customers
As I was getting interviewed for a job today, I was asked to describe uncomfortable situations in which I had found myself with customers. I'd worked in only few places that dealt with customers: twice in retail, and one as a waitress. Not a lot of work experience, I know, but that's enough to meet some pretty off-the-wall people.
I worked in McDonald's one summer when I was eighteen. I did cashiering and tended the deep-fries (which was absolutely horrible in the summer - the bubbling oil jumped at you and suffocated every uncovered pore in your body). I remember one customer who was very particular about her cheeseburger. She said, "I want a cheeseburger with no tomato and no cheese."
I thought about it and replied, "So a hamburger with no tomato, you mean."
She frowned very deeply and said in a manner one took when speaking to a child, "Noooo...a cheeseburger. No tomato. No cheese."
"I'm sorry," I said, "Without cheese, wouldn't that be a hamburger?"
"Look," she leaned her bulk very closely to my face. "If I wanted a hamburger, I would've said a hamburger. I want a cheeseburger. Ok?"
I remember ringing it up quickly, not wanting to face the wrath of a hungry woman.
Another encounter came a few months later, when I worked at Old Navy. The woman who usually greeted customers asked me to fill her spot while she went out to lunch. Of course, I agreed. Being a greeter looked like fun: she sang along with the Christmas songs Old Navy played and initiated conversations with everyone who walked into the store. Fun!
Four hours later (yes, four! I figured she was having a VERY satisfying lunch), I noticed a man who kept looking at me outside Old Navy's wide double doors. He looked around thirty, hair and clothing unkempt and smelling slightly of the subways.
"I just wanted to let you know," he said as he came in, taking my right hand in his, "that you're doing a great job. You're lovely, lovely woman." He then proceeded to plant a rather sloppy kiss on the back of my hand.
<Insert uncomfortable silence here> I blinked. Once. Twice.
I smiled and thanked him (I was an excellent greeter, after all) and waited impatiently for my replacement. I was flattered and at the same time very flustered (Eighteen and having had no boyfriends, the male species was a pretty alien thing to me).
I'm sure I'm not alone with these experiences: what about you guys?
I think everyone has creepy customer experiences. We had a lot of them at Barnes and Noble because coffee drinkers are insane. The worst was the lady who was convinced that I was putting whole milk in her soy latte. Soy smells, tastes, and looks completely different than regular milk, and believe me, the milk in her drink was soy. She brought a manager over and everything, convinced I was trying to poison her.
Second best was the homeless guy who came in and took a nap in our cafe chairs. When my coworker when to wake him up, the man screamed "Leave me alone you faggot nigger!" My coworker went to find a manager, while the man began throwing books on the floor and shouting "you don't know what you're talking about!"
Goooood times, right there.
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HA! For some reason, that reminded me of another experience I had while working at Old Navy. The Manhattan store is one of their main hubs, so the Bargain Basement is a nightmare. I got stuck working there one day at the cash register. This woman had about 20 pieces of these paper socks the size of a dollar - the ones that fills up to a one foot tall pair of socks when wet (to each his or her own, I suppose). Anyway, the day before they had been $.10 each, and when the woman asked how much they were, that's what I said. She was happily chatting about nonsense when the register rang it up for $.25 each. I apologized and told her that it's price appeared to have gone up since yesterday. She wouldn't hear of it. She said that since I told her it was 10 cents each, I should ring it up for that amount. Luckily, I was able to pacify her by pointing her to other paper blow-up things that were cheaper than 25 cents.
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4 hours later?! I"m not sure what I would've done, I'm not outspoken like that..Did you give her a piece of your mind?..I'm loving your blogs by the way!
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Tiff, you know me better than that ^_^ Of course I didn't give her a piece of my mind. Heck, I probably even thanked her for letting me do her job!
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