Monday, June 16, 2008

Do you know who I am?

I stopped at the grocery store on my way to work today to pick up some ‘provisions’ for the week: Diet Pepsi, carrot chips, veggie dip and some frozen dinners. There was hardly anyone in parking lot so I figured I could get in and out fairly quickly, which was good since I was already running late.

I grabbed what I needed and proceeded to the only open register, where the cashier and another employee were chatting about their weekend. I started placing my items on the conveyor belt and fully expected their conversation to end, or least to be put on hold. That wasn’t the case though. The cashier turned to me and said, “I’ll be with you in just a sec, Hon”. Well, after about a minute I was becoming a wee bit annoyed and the following exchange occurred:

Me:
“Excuse me, Rhonda” (That was the name on her pin.)

Cashier:
Startled that I interrupted her.

Me:
“Do you know who I am?”

Cashier:
Blank look.

Me:
“You don’t recognize me?”

Cashier:
“No.”

Me:
“I’m the customer. Could you please finish your conversation later and ring up my items?”

Cahier:
“Uh, yeah. Um, I’m sorry.”

I left the store feeling a little sorry about what I said, but then I thought about it. Why should I? Part of a cashier’s job is customer service, and I just reminded her of that.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bwahahahaha! That is AWESOME. AWESOME!!

Sometimes it blows my mind how rude people can be especially when they are being paid to be otherwise.

Ridiculous!

Michael C said...

I need to learn some 'how to handle confrontation' tips from you. When I see confrontation looming, I just close my eyes and hum the theme to MASH for some reason.

I think you might be on to something with the way you tackle it head on!

You posed some very deep questions in my comment section and I'd have to say that you are right: a goodbye post would be necessary. I think it should be accompanied by a soundtrack and a group hug like at the end of the mary Tyler Moore show finale or waking up and discovering the whole thing was dream. That usually works pretty well in finales...
;-)

And sorry for exceeding the 'space per commenter' rule.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, I HATE when cashiers ignore me. GOOD ONE cuz!

Coal Miner's Granddaughter said...

Hey, good for you! It drives me nuts that customer service has gone down the tubes and there is a huge lack of common courtesy in the service industry in general. Ish. You go girl!

Anonymous said...

Excellent. A woman after my own heart. Hahahaha.

Anonymous said...

I am so happy that someone finally said somthing. It always happens when you are rushing too. But I must say... I never known you to be so feisty!