I'm old! I'm a regular! Give me stuff!

[Marxfan]

At Mickey D's, we have daily specials, in which you get a sandwich of the day and large fries for the bargain price of $2.72 (I don't know if they do this everywhere, but it's definitely at my store). Anyway, Friday was Filet-O-Fish (yuck) day, and this elderly customer comes to my counter.

EC: Elderly customer
Me: (curtsies grandly to audience

EC: I'd like today's special, but instead of fries, could you substitute a side salad.
Me: I'm sorry, sir, we can't do that.
EC: Why?
Me: We just can't, the fries come with the special. You can order a fish sandwich by itself and a salad separately.
EC: What? I mean... I'm a senior citizen! I'm in here 3 or 4 times a week, can't you give me something?!
Me: (screaming on the inside, but maintaining sweetly professional veneer) Would you like me to ask someone?
EC: Yes, please!!

I ask my bitch of a manager when she's right in front of him, and for once she does the right thing and says no, we can't substitute a salad for fries. Old man reluctantly agrees to this, since a side salad and a fish sandwich cost almost a dollar more than the daily special. Not as sucky as he could have been, but an SC is an SC is an SC...

You know something? I'm convinced people live to ripe old ages not because of rich, healthy lifestyles, but so they can demand to be rewarded for not dying. Big fucking whoop! You didn't die, aren't you special?? And you're a regular? So what, you have no life! I used to be a regular at this clothing store I loved, but I didn't go around demanding free stuff or discounts! Hell, I was actually a little embarassed for going there so often because the salespeople probably thought I was a desperately lonely person with too much money to spend!

[earl colby pottinger]

Reading

You know you should have reversed the order of the first two statements. Once I see 'old' and I start thinking funny so that I read it as:

I'm old! I'm regular! Give me stuff!

I'll go and cry in a corner now.

[MoonChild2007]

Great another person who thinks they are entitled to bend the rules cause they have been customers for years.

[Misanthropical]

I don't get the whole senior discount and them screaming about being on a fixed income.

Most of us are on a fixed income (when was the last time you got a raise?) and most of us struggle to make ends meet, so why is it the seniors seem to be the ones screaming about a discount?

[CreepyCarrie]

Because they think that just because they're made it to 70 or above and haven't croaked, they deserve some special recognition in the form of discounts everywhere.

[Becks]

To quote the esteemed Abe "Grandpa" Simpson: "I'm old!! Gimme gimme gimme!!!!"

[Rapscallion]

Let's be fair here. It was companies originally offering those discounts, then trying to beat each other to get the grey money, that made old people expect them everywhere.

Now, when someone who is old expects a discount where no senior discount is offered, well, that's where we take a back seat and laugh/commiserate/offering nakes photos of me to unsuspecting doctors in an attempt to bring down the wage bill for the NHS.

Rapscallion

[JustaCashier]

I'll take Raps idea a bit further, in that I think the reason so many customers of all ages have unreasonable expectations, and this entitlement attitude.

I personally lay the blame on my very own locally grown Nordstroms. In my view, they are the one that initiated this level of customer service of where they'll do such things as do an exchange on a several years old pair of shoes, because they were "worn out". (Don't know if it's true, just a story I heard several years ago).

A little trivia for those that don't know, but do care, Nordy's got their start just selling shoes oh so many years ago.

Even worse, I still remember the tune to, and most of the lyrics of, a corny little theme song from a Nordy's TV commercial from the '60's!

Mike

[hawkchick11]

I personally lay the blame on my very own locally grown Nordstroms. In my view, they are the one that initiated this level of customer service of where they'll do such things as do an exchange on a several years old pair of shoes, because they were "worn out". (Don't know if it's true, just a story I heard several years ago).

Its true. You should hear of some of the things that have been returned at Nordstrom.

But you'd be surprised at how many people still get pissed off even when Nordstrom does everything to make them happy.. Its ridiculous.

I may or may not be currently working in their online customer service call center

[ShadedWings]

I hear constantly...

But I'm <insert age over 60> years old!

or

I'm on a fixed income!

or

I have five kids!

as reasons to not pay the electric bill. One day, my reply to every statement like that will be "And? Congrats. Pay your bill."

[Pagan]

And we have Marshall Field (or possibly César Ritz) to thank for that most famous of phrases that sets all of us here twitching:

The customer is alway right!

[Jester]

Time to revive one of my favorite stories from the Waterfront Bar.

Now, in Key West, many establishments offer "local prices" or "local discounts" to people who live here, as opposed to the regular price they charge the tourists. Naturally, many tourists try to cash in on this by claiming to be locals. Some places give the discounts to anyone who ask, some require some proof.

But at the Waterfront Bar, we don't give local prices. We give special prices to REGULARS. People we recognize, who come in all the time.

Now, the protagonist in this story is not yours truly, but a bartender who has worked at the Waterfront Bar for a long, long time. And does so five days a week.

So one day, an ass nugget comes up to the bar, and orders several drinks from the bartender in question.

BARTENDER: "That'll be [full price of the drinks]."
ASSNUGGET: "Oh, I'm a local."
BARTENDER: "That's great. But we don't give local prices. We give special prices to our regulars."
ASSNUGGET: "I'm a regular."
BARTENDER: (skeptically) "Reeeeaaallllly...."
ASSNUGGET: "Yep! Been coming here for YEARS!"
BARTENDER: "You don't say? Okay then....what's my name?"
ASSNUGGET: "Umm...." "..."
BARTENDER: "As I said, that'll be [full price of drinks]!"

He paid.