Ugh... When will people learn that not everything is funny? A frequent customer of mine came into the store today. She was one of those older women who never buys anything, but comes in to try out all the products. I greeted her at the door and noticed that she asked me for a shopping bag. Ecstatic I promptly gave her one and asked what she was looking for. Its grad season and her granddaughter was graduating high school tomorrow in top 3 of her class. The smile on her face as she told me that could light up the entire gloomy mall in which the store resides. "First woman in my family to graduate high school" she tells me merrily. I smile back at her sweetly and say "Now that deserves a gift!"
I take her through all the good smelling, pretty packaged, and brightly colored gifts the store has to offer and even suggest the gift card route so her graduate can come and pick something out for herself. She finally decides on a big custom made basket filled with lots of goodies for her body and her future college dorm. I lead her to the "cash wrap" to check her out and wrap her gifts in brightly colored paper. She thanks me earnestly before I tell her the total and tells me that I was such a "great help".
Her total came to $46.98 after tax and she pulls out her wallet with a roll of twenties ans 2 rolls of quarters. "How many twenties is that?" she asked quietly.
My heart sank and my blood pressure dropped. I almost started to cry. I help her count out her cash and change, hand her a receipt and thank her for stopping by. I walk away from the register and notice a co-worker of mine laughing himself to tears.
"I'm so happy that you find American illiteracy comical." He disregards my comment completely and waves me off laughing maniacally. I shrug my shoulders and think back to a moment I had near my house yesterday. It seems as though his entire family share the same jaded views of the world and the same heinously abysmal sense of humor.
No comments:
Post a Comment