Rude Icee lady

[RammsteinGirl]

I'm bored and it's 2 A.M. (damn being a night owl!), so I'm going to regale ya'll with a Sucky Customer story. Sorry about the crappy thread title.. I couldn't think of a better one.

Well.. I don't know if this lady was INTENTIONALLY sucky.. or just dumb and inconsiderate. I was working checkouts and a lady comes through my lane with her young daughter in the buggy. The girl was maybe around 4 or 5 years old and she had one of those red Icees in her hand.

You can guess what happens next.. the little girl proceeds to accidentally dump her Icee ALL over herself, the buggy and the damn floor. Well, the lady removes her daughter from the cart, pays for her purchase and says.. "Oh, sorry about that! Have a nice day!" and she WALKS OFF and leaves me to clean up her effing red, sticky mess all by myself!! And it was ALL over the floor.. all the way down my checkout, from the front to the end of the lane. And that shit stains horribly and is loaded with sugar so it's ultra-sticky.

I understand accidents happen with little kids. My problem was she just walked off without even attempting to help me clean it up. If my child had done that, I would have asked the cashier to hand me some paper towels and I would help clean everything up before I left. I guess some people are totally brain-dead when it comes to manners, personal responsibility and being considerate of others!

[Broomjockey]

Having just paid, and her having a now-sticky child, I could understand (almost kinda) not offering to clean.

What I do not understand is the complete lack of contrition in that apology. The profuseness of the apology should be corellative with the mess created. A mess like that should have gotten at LEAST a "Oh no! Oh! Oh God! I'm sorry! Oh geez! I'm sorry! Oh, this is awful! I'm so sorry!" That's an apology I could live with if I was a cashier then forced to clean it up.

[CancelMyService]

As an avid fan of the cherry flavored "slushies" as they're called around here, I mourn for the loss of so much frosty goodness

[RammsteinGirl]

Well.. I don't know.. maybe I would be a mean parent, but I would also make my child help clean up. Even if it was only a little bit. I wouldn't yell at the kid or anything, but I think it would be a great lesson to teach your kids responsibility.

Yeah.. she was laughing about it, actually. I guess she thought it was cute?

[Broomjockey]

Whoa whoa whoa. Hold the door, stop the presses. She laughed. WTF? *amends previous thoughts to include poor child losing the icee she managed to drink because of motion sickness in the car*

[RammsteinGirl]

Yeah, she was kind of giggling/smiling about it. Maybe out of embarassment? Not sure. I was mostly pissed that she just left me there with that mess without even a heartfelt apology. I guess she figured she's a customer, she's helping pay my paycheck so it's my job to clean it up.. dunno.

[Sableonblonde]

Any time I make a mess in a public place, no matter where I am, I always clean it up. I even spotlessly clean hotel rooms when I'm done using them, because I don't think it is the room attendants job to pick up my personal mess. They already have plenty to do with changing the sheets and replacing towels and glasses and stuff. My boyfriend makes fun of me all the time, especially when we go out to eat and I insist on making sure our table is wiped clean before we go. I have just never once thought that it was ANYONE else's job to clean up after me, and if I make a mess I take care of it myself. I think the world would be a much better place is everyone thought that way.

At work it happens at least several times a day that somebody tips their cup too far when taking their first drink, instead of just bending their head down a couple inches and utilizing the straw, and ends up spilling liquid all over the counter. I really don't care when it happens, but it is a little unsettling when somebody spills A LOT and then just walks away like nothing happened. I don't expect them to clean it up, but for crying out loud, don't make a huge mess all over my counter and then just walk away without apologizing or at least LOOKING apologetic. Once in awhile I will get the rare person who makes a little spill and then insists on wiping it up themselves; it always makes me misty eyed.

[justZu]

We get that at the ballpark, too. One of the stands we run has Icees and kids are always spilling them. Usually we don't even get an apology. The really entitlement-minded ones just shove the cups at us and want a refill:
"My Preeeeciouuussss spilled his widdle Icee, it was expensive I need a refill".

Then the rest of the day is people(understandably) irritated because their feet are sticking to the cement.





Customers really do suck.

[Auto]

Usually we don't even get an apology. The really entitlement-minded ones just shove the cups at us and want a refill:
"My Preeeeciouuussss spilled his widdle Icee, it was expensive I need a refill".

Do you give them a refill?

My policy would be no free replacement unless mom and dad help clean up and are properly contrite.

If not, mom and dad can just ante up for buy their kid a new one.

[Becks]

I am SHOCKED that the woman didn't demand another Icee.

When did I become so cynical?

[aurelemsrealm]

I hate when customers leave their messes without offering so much as an apology. What's even worse are the customers who just randomly drop their trash wherever they are, or walk up and try to hand it to me or just throw it on the counter. I refuse to take it from them, and instead direct them to the nearest trash can. Most of the time, I keep our trash can behind the counter closer to the coffee pots and fountain area so that I don't drip coffee all over behind the counter.

[Noelegy]

As an avid fan of the cherry flavored "slushies" as they're called around here, I mourn for the loss of so much frosty goodness

Yeah, I was a big fan of those things until the day I saw a kid go up to the Icee machine, stick his finger up into the spigot, lick his finger, and then stick it back up in there and lick it again. The kid was old enough to know better, 9 or so, and quite a little porker* at that.

*I know childhood obesity has become an epidemic. I've recently heard much outrage over school-enforced exercise programs apparently being put back into schools (I didn't know they'd been taken out in the first place). We had those when I was in school. It was called P.E. And there were nowhere near the number of overweight kids that there are today. Furthermore, you had two choices when it came to school lunches: 1) what the school served, and 2) what you brought in your own lunch. No vending machines or junk food in the elementary.

[justZu]

Do you give them a refill?

My policy would be no free replacement unless mom and dad help clean up and are properly contrite.

If not, mom and dad can just ante up for buy their kid a new one.

I'd LOVE to tell them no refills, but since we use the same cup and we don't count the Icee mix in our inventory, the policy is to refill for spills. I hate it, especially when they return from up in the stands claiming it was spilled and I can tell they are just scamming for more free Icee.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Sableonblonde, I am the same way. When I'm in a restaurant I always put my napkins and sugar packets and straw papers on my plate when I'm done, and if possible my mom and I will stack the our plates with the silverware and trash on top so they can just pick it all up in one trip. I also pick up any pieces of food that may have fallen off the plate. I've cleaned off enough tables in the cafe at B&N (and I didn't even work in the cafe) and at my college job that I want to make it as easy as possible for the person who has to clean up after my meal.

[Andara Bledin]

Well.. I don't know.. maybe I would be a mean parent, but I would also make my child help clean up. Even if it was only a little bit. I wouldn't yell at the kid or anything, but I think it would be a great lesson to teach your kids responsibility.

Yeah.. she was laughing about it, actually. I guess she thought it was cute?

No, you'd be a great parent. The lady in your line was the sucky parent, showing her kid that it's ok to leave a mess as long as it isn't at home.

If I were in that sort of situation, I'd think of it as a golden opportunity to teach the kid about cleaning up messes. Sort of an "Uh-oh, we made a mess, we'd better clean it up" then ask the clerk for towels and get the kid down to help out. Make it a group project so it isn't as sucky a chore for the kid.

*I know childhood obesity has become an epidemic. I've recently heard much outrage over school-enforced exercise programs apparently being put back into schools (I didn't know they'd been taken out in the first place). We had those when I was in school. It was called P.E. And there were nowhere near the number of overweight kids that there are today. Furthermore, you had two choices when it came to school lunches: 1) what the school served, and 2) what you brought in your own lunch. No vending machines or junk food in the elementary.

I don't know how long ago you were in school, but I went to school through the 80's and from junior high to high school, and we always had crap food options to go with our healthier food options. And even with PE, you still get the porkers. I hated PE. I wasn't heavy, but I was never that athletic, so I struggled with it. And they would never grade for effort, just achievement, which is rather unfair for the type of crap they made us do.

If we'd played more stuff like flag football (I was a killer for nabbing flags) or tennis (one month, that's it?) I'd have had a lot more fun.

^-.-^