Well here it is, just 4 days short of a year and I come face to face with my little friend over at Adam’s Supermarket and just can’t keep my mouth shut.
Now I’ve let a lot go by when it comes to clerks because I realize that they get frustrated with dealing with people but this time, in my usual polite manner I asked for paper bags inside plastic as I always do because I recycle both by storing my own trash this way, and in both cases, the bag gives strength to the plastic and the plastic allows handles for easy carrying and tying the bag. And, I did offer to bag if he’d give me the paper bags (since I can usually stash more food in fewer bags that way) but this fell on deaf ears.
All was going well until the man asked if I wanted the two containers of meat in a plastic bag. I said no, that I had a personal war going on against plastic bags. He then said, "Well what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense." I just stared at him. "You’ve got plastic here," he said, pointing to the two plastic bags with paper liners that held my groceries. "It doesn’t make any sense," he repeated.
"You know, sometimes you can be extremely rude," I said quietly, staring him right in the eye.
He was speechless for a moment, then turned back to his ringing up of items and we started talking about recycling for the duration of the process to smooth things out.
I happen to be in retail, and one thing you don’t do is insult the customer’s intelligence. Even when they pick an orange and black mat for the beautifully executed ink drawing of their house.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology