Uh, Duh!

Customers. You can't live with 'em, you can't live... Well, maybe I'll just stop there.

Actually, you know what? Since I started working at a card shop, I find the customers much less unnerving, which is not to say I don't ever get someone who is a few fries short of a Happy Meal, because surely I do. But it's a different atmosphere. People are there to buy smelly candles and ooey gooey greeting cards and snow globes that play "Santa Claus is Coming To Town." Most of them aren't rushing there straight from the office, ticked off and anxious from the day's events. They're at the mall and they've got some time to kill, which makes life easier for me.

In fact, yesterday was a pretty awesome day all because a lady and her son - I'd say about 6 or 7 years old - approached me and asked for help. The son wanted to buy his mom Christmas presents ($20 limit) but he didn't want her to see what he was buying. She asked me if I could walk him around the store and help him pick out a couple of gifts. Lucky for her, the store was dead at the time (OK, it's always dead - wonderful economy!), so we took about 15 minutes and made the rounds. We ruled out smelly candles. We ruled out journals, calendars, and address books. We settled on one of the snow globes that plays "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" and a coffee mug that said some mushy about mothers on it. AND, we did it all under $18!

I rang the kid up, wrapped up the gifts in tissue paper and stuffed them in boxes so his mom couldn't see, and then when they were plain out-of-sight... she came over and paid the bill. He even made me give HIM the receipt, so his mom couldn't "snoop," as he put it. Too cute!

BUT - as I mentioned - you do get the occasional id-jit (that's "idiot" for those of you who don't speak Redneck)and I also had one of those yesterday. A lady came up to the counter with a box of Christmas cards and wanted to know where to find the price. I told her to flip it over and look on the back. She said, and I quote:

"Well, it says it's eighteen dollars in the U.S. and twenty-five dollars in Canada, so which is it?"

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit sarcastic. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to lay it on thick, but far be it from me to pass up an opportunity to offer a little sarcasm, right?
So *I* said, and I quote:

"Well, we're in the U.S., so you would pay the U.S. amount. If we were in Canada, you'd pay Canadian money."

There was no flicker of recognition in her eyes, a silent acknowledgment that she had said something truly moronic. No, she nodded her head and it was clear that the thought had honestly never occurred to her before. How does one reach middle-age without knowing that in the United States, we pay American prices in the form of American money??? This makes me feel not so bad about failing algebra all those years ago.

Id-jits. What would my job be without them? It almost makes minimum wage worth it. (Almost.) Pin It