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I'd normally feel a bit of sympathy if I saw someone on a motorised wheelchair in the rain, but today I almost laughed at him. Actually I think laughter did escape my lips at one point
What turned me into such a heartless [insert expletive term here]? Glad you asked!
Well today I got called into work on my RDO because they were busy, a couple of cashiers had called in sick [yeah right] and so they were stuck with only one cashier. Although I am one of the top managers at the store, I am also trained in cashiering, so I got called in to cover her lunch break, as well as help out on the sales floor while some of the other staff were on lunch. So I'm on the cashdesk, and this middle aged guy in a motorised wheelchair comes up to the counter with an academic edition of Adobe Photoshop.
I should add that it has a large red sticker covering almost half the front of the box saying that it is an academic edition only, student id must be sighted prior to purchase yada yada yada. In fact the sticker is so big it covers up part of the title, and much of the information about the product, so chances are they would have read the box of the full-priced version prior to selecting the academic one.
So as per the requirements I asked him for his student ID.
SC: Why do you need that?
Me: Because this is an academic version - I need to sight student ID before I can sell it to you.
SC: Well I don't have student ID because I'm not a student. [no surprises there].
Me: Then I'm sorry sir, but I can't sell this one to you, you'll have to get one of the full copies that are on the shelf.
SC: But they are $x,xxx.
[almost $1500 - yes that's the price in Australia, I agree it is ridiculously expensive, but that's the price. Academic ones are about $300 so a bit more realistic]
Me: Yes that's normal price of Photoshop. The academic edition has a lower price and is for use by photography students so that they can learn how to use it.
SC: But we are only on a pension, and can't afford $x,xxx.
Me: Then your only other alternative is Photoshop Elements which has a few of the professional type features cut out, but still has enough capability for most home users, or alternatively one of the other photo-editing packages we have which do similar things.
SC: But I need Photoshop because I need [some feature that means nothing to me]. Elements won't do that.
[up to this point, it's not so sucky, more just ill-informed. We have similar questions fairly frequently about academic software. I can see where they are coming from - it is expensive and they are on a low income]
SC's Wife: Can't you just make an exception for us.
Me: Sorry, these rules are set by the distributors, not by us. We get audited periodically, and if they discover we broke the rules, we will lose our right to sell academic software, so as much as I'd like to, I can't make an exception for you.
SC's Wife: Surely just once couldn't hurt.
Me: Yes, it would. Just once is enough. I would be risking the entire company's accreditation, and would probably lose my job over it. So unfortunately, regardless of how valid your case may be, I can't make an exception.
SC's Wife: That's easy for you to say, at least you have a job. We are poor pensioners, how are we supposed to find that kind of money?
Me: I agree it is a lot of money, but it's a tool normally used by working professionals. Just like pretty much anything else that's aimed at professionals its expensive. They do have the home edition which is Photoshop Elements. Unfortunately if you need features in the full Photoshop, then you will have to pay it's price.
SC: You give students a thousand dollar discount, why can't you give the same discount to pensioners?
Me: The discount is given by the software publishers, not by us, and they have their rules about who they give it to. Unfortunately, they don't have a pensioner discount scheme.
SC: It's a ****in' ripoff that's what it is. Just sell me this ****in' program at that price!
Me: Sir, I have to ask you not to use that language in the store, there are ladies and children present.
SC: I'll use whatever ****in' language I want, you ****in' ****hole, now get me the manager.
[oh this will be fun, since even though I'm not rostered for today, I actually out-rank today's duty manager]
Me: Sir I AM the manager [short pause to let this sink in to him] and since you have continued to use offensive language, you have left me no option but to ask you to leave the store immediately.
SC: What if I won't leave?
Me: Then you will be trespassing, and I will call security or the police as necessary to have you physically removed, and you will probably also be charged with using offensive language in a public place. It will be much easier for all concerned if you just leave of your own accord.
[As I said this I picked up the telephone handset]
The wind out of his sails, he made some passing comment about me being a ****in something or other, and slowly trundled off and left the store. I moved on to the next customer and had a relatively uneventful 15 minutes until I was able to leave.
While I was driving home it started to rain. An icy cold winter shower with a driving wind behind it. As I'm driving along I see SC and his wife. Both very wet, faces grimacing against the cold, driving rain. Yes normally I would feel sorry for people in that situation, sometimes I might even offer assistance, but today it gave me one of those feelings, that if only for a brief moment, all was well with the universe.
What turned me into such a heartless [insert expletive term here]? Glad you asked!
Well today I got called into work on my RDO because they were busy, a couple of cashiers had called in sick [yeah right] and so they were stuck with only one cashier. Although I am one of the top managers at the store, I am also trained in cashiering, so I got called in to cover her lunch break, as well as help out on the sales floor while some of the other staff were on lunch. So I'm on the cashdesk, and this middle aged guy in a motorised wheelchair comes up to the counter with an academic edition of Adobe Photoshop.
I should add that it has a large red sticker covering almost half the front of the box saying that it is an academic edition only, student id must be sighted prior to purchase yada yada yada. In fact the sticker is so big it covers up part of the title, and much of the information about the product, so chances are they would have read the box of the full-priced version prior to selecting the academic one.
So as per the requirements I asked him for his student ID.
SC: Why do you need that?
Me: Because this is an academic version - I need to sight student ID before I can sell it to you.
SC: Well I don't have student ID because I'm not a student. [no surprises there].
Me: Then I'm sorry sir, but I can't sell this one to you, you'll have to get one of the full copies that are on the shelf.
SC: But they are $x,xxx.
[almost $1500 - yes that's the price in Australia, I agree it is ridiculously expensive, but that's the price. Academic ones are about $300 so a bit more realistic]
Me: Yes that's normal price of Photoshop. The academic edition has a lower price and is for use by photography students so that they can learn how to use it.
SC: But we are only on a pension, and can't afford $x,xxx.
Me: Then your only other alternative is Photoshop Elements which has a few of the professional type features cut out, but still has enough capability for most home users, or alternatively one of the other photo-editing packages we have which do similar things.
SC: But I need Photoshop because I need [some feature that means nothing to me]. Elements won't do that.
[up to this point, it's not so sucky, more just ill-informed. We have similar questions fairly frequently about academic software. I can see where they are coming from - it is expensive and they are on a low income]
SC's Wife: Can't you just make an exception for us.
Me: Sorry, these rules are set by the distributors, not by us. We get audited periodically, and if they discover we broke the rules, we will lose our right to sell academic software, so as much as I'd like to, I can't make an exception for you.
SC's Wife: Surely just once couldn't hurt.
Me: Yes, it would. Just once is enough. I would be risking the entire company's accreditation, and would probably lose my job over it. So unfortunately, regardless of how valid your case may be, I can't make an exception.
SC's Wife: That's easy for you to say, at least you have a job. We are poor pensioners, how are we supposed to find that kind of money?
Me: I agree it is a lot of money, but it's a tool normally used by working professionals. Just like pretty much anything else that's aimed at professionals its expensive. They do have the home edition which is Photoshop Elements. Unfortunately if you need features in the full Photoshop, then you will have to pay it's price.
SC: You give students a thousand dollar discount, why can't you give the same discount to pensioners?
Me: The discount is given by the software publishers, not by us, and they have their rules about who they give it to. Unfortunately, they don't have a pensioner discount scheme.
SC: It's a ****in' ripoff that's what it is. Just sell me this ****in' program at that price!
Me: Sir, I have to ask you not to use that language in the store, there are ladies and children present.
SC: I'll use whatever ****in' language I want, you ****in' ****hole, now get me the manager.
[oh this will be fun, since even though I'm not rostered for today, I actually out-rank today's duty manager]
Me: Sir I AM the manager [short pause to let this sink in to him] and since you have continued to use offensive language, you have left me no option but to ask you to leave the store immediately.
SC: What if I won't leave?
Me: Then you will be trespassing, and I will call security or the police as necessary to have you physically removed, and you will probably also be charged with using offensive language in a public place. It will be much easier for all concerned if you just leave of your own accord.
[As I said this I picked up the telephone handset]
The wind out of his sails, he made some passing comment about me being a ****in something or other, and slowly trundled off and left the store. I moved on to the next customer and had a relatively uneventful 15 minutes until I was able to leave.
While I was driving home it started to rain. An icy cold winter shower with a driving wind behind it. As I'm driving along I see SC and his wife. Both very wet, faces grimacing against the cold, driving rain. Yes normally I would feel sorry for people in that situation, sometimes I might even offer assistance, but today it gave me one of those feelings, that if only for a brief moment, all was well with the universe.
Ask me to violate our License? 
Begone! 
. As for the SC's: HA Ha! *A la Nelson Muntz from the Simpsons* 
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