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Today while I was running the front end at the Store I got a call on the walkie to come to self-checkout. When I came over, the attendant pointed out an older man who said he wanted to speak to a manager. I usually dread those words, but the conversation we had was unexpected to say the least;
Me: How can I help you?
C: I just checked out. I was on checkstand 14, and the lady there was very nice and very polite.
Me: That's good to know! I'll pass that on.
C: Hold on. The guy behind me was very rude. And I want you to know she didn't do anything wrong and she shouldn't get in any trouble.
Me: I'll keep that in mind in case anything comes up.
C: Another person had to take over the line for her. I don't know what his problem was. Maybe it was because she's (ethnicity). I can't stand people like that.
Me: Thank you, sir. I'll look into this.
I find this most concerning, especially since I wasn't aware of anything having happened in her checkstand. The cashier in question is relatively new to the company, but she's an extremely friendly and polite woman, very conversational with the customers, and she's gotten a lot of positive comment cards from customers, so I can't imagine her doing anything that would be inappropriate. I look over to her checkstand and see that the Store Manager has taken over her checkstand and she's nowhere in sight. The Store Manager should never have to be in a checkstand, so if he's taken over, it would appear that shit has become real. He's ringing up a middle-aged white man, with a long beard and long hair in a ponytail, wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt, who appears to be talking at him almost non-stop.
I go searching for the cashier and find her on the chip aisle. I ask her if she's OK and she tells me she's shaken. She says the guy was asking her to "weigh out a pound of coffee", but didn't actually have any coffee to weigh, and when she was trying to figure out what he meant, he started getting angry and cursing and saying things about prices going up and how-do-you-not-know-what-a-pound-of-coffee-costs and so forth. She saw the Store Manager passing by and flagged him down, and he took over and told her to go catch her breath. I asked her if it was the guy in the Grateful Dead shirt and she said yes and she didn't want to go back up there until he was gone, so I told her to go to the breakroom and rest (on the clock) until the coast was clear.
I went back to my podium and watched. And waited. Ten minutes Deadhead was at the checkstand, apparently ranting his head off at SM (who has an uncanny ability to remain completely calm and professional no matter what situation he's in.) The people in line behind this guy are clearly getting frustrated. I start directing people to other lines because this clearly isn't getting resolved any time soon.
Eventually it appears he's finished and he puts his stuff in his cart and walks away. I'm about to page the cashier back up to the front - and then I see Deadhead walk up to the customer service counter, and start slamming bags of bulk product onto it, and ranting at her. A few minutes later, she signals for me to come over and it turns out he wants to return about half of the stuff he just bought. I get dragged into his rant as I come over to approve the return;
D: All of this is supposed to cost $25. You're telling me the price just goes up just like that?
CS: The prices are what they are, sir. I don't control them.
D: Who makes that decision?
CS: I think Corporate makes that decision.
D: Fuck Corporate! I bet they raised the price because this is This Town. It's different at other Stores, isn't it?
CS: I don't know.
D: (sees my supervisor badge) Do you know? Is it different at other Stores?
Me: Our prices vary from location to location.
D: I KNEW it! You can't let them fuck us over like this just 'cause this is This Town! They're trying to gentrify us all out of here!
Me: I don't know what to tell you, sir. Those decisions aren't made at my level.
D: Oh, you just do what they say, don't you? See how you'll like it when you don't have water to drink, or food to eat, and you can't afford to live here! They're turning This Town pagan! They're trying to do it to Next Town Over too! When Corporate tells you to raise prices, you need to tell them to shove their prices up their fuckin' ass!
Next customer in line: Are you done?
D: Fuck you!
Next customer: You have a good day. (walks up and puts his stuff on the counter)
Deadhead then storms off with his refund and everyone in the growing line at customer service breathes a sigh of relief. I go to the breakroom and let the cashier know the coast is clear, she's not in any trouble, she didn't do anything wrong, and there's nothing anyone in the Store could have said that would have made him happy. She thanks me, lets the SM out of the checkstand, and gets back to work relieved.
Now, I wouldn't call myself a Deadhead. (I don't do any drugs, so I'm far too Melvin for their lot.
) But I have seen the Dead a few times, I own several of their albums and shirts (including the same one this guy was wearing), and I've encountered quite a few Deadheads in my time. All the Deadheads I've encountered have been mellow, laid-back, peace-loving people, who just want to consume some mind-altering substances and listen to lengthy country-rock jam sessions and half-hour drum solos. They don't like big corporations, and they probably voted for Bernie Sanders, but they're no more in-your-face about it than your friend on Facebook who keeps posting about how awesome it is to be vegan.
This guy was the angriest Deadhead I have ever met. Some people are just so miserable and mad at the world that they have to inflict on everyone else around them as well. Honestly, I'm surprised SM didn't just call security and have him escorted out, but that would probably have resulted in an even bigger scene.
A little while later, I poked my head into SM's office while he was going over some emails.
Me: For what it's worth, the customer in front of that guy wanted to let us know that Cashier was very nice and polite to him.
SM: (laughs) Yeah, I thought so.
Me: How can I help you?
C: I just checked out. I was on checkstand 14, and the lady there was very nice and very polite.
Me: That's good to know! I'll pass that on.
C: Hold on. The guy behind me was very rude. And I want you to know she didn't do anything wrong and she shouldn't get in any trouble.
Me: I'll keep that in mind in case anything comes up.
C: Another person had to take over the line for her. I don't know what his problem was. Maybe it was because she's (ethnicity). I can't stand people like that.
Me: Thank you, sir. I'll look into this.
I find this most concerning, especially since I wasn't aware of anything having happened in her checkstand. The cashier in question is relatively new to the company, but she's an extremely friendly and polite woman, very conversational with the customers, and she's gotten a lot of positive comment cards from customers, so I can't imagine her doing anything that would be inappropriate. I look over to her checkstand and see that the Store Manager has taken over her checkstand and she's nowhere in sight. The Store Manager should never have to be in a checkstand, so if he's taken over, it would appear that shit has become real. He's ringing up a middle-aged white man, with a long beard and long hair in a ponytail, wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt, who appears to be talking at him almost non-stop.
I go searching for the cashier and find her on the chip aisle. I ask her if she's OK and she tells me she's shaken. She says the guy was asking her to "weigh out a pound of coffee", but didn't actually have any coffee to weigh, and when she was trying to figure out what he meant, he started getting angry and cursing and saying things about prices going up and how-do-you-not-know-what-a-pound-of-coffee-costs and so forth. She saw the Store Manager passing by and flagged him down, and he took over and told her to go catch her breath. I asked her if it was the guy in the Grateful Dead shirt and she said yes and she didn't want to go back up there until he was gone, so I told her to go to the breakroom and rest (on the clock) until the coast was clear.
I went back to my podium and watched. And waited. Ten minutes Deadhead was at the checkstand, apparently ranting his head off at SM (who has an uncanny ability to remain completely calm and professional no matter what situation he's in.) The people in line behind this guy are clearly getting frustrated. I start directing people to other lines because this clearly isn't getting resolved any time soon.
Eventually it appears he's finished and he puts his stuff in his cart and walks away. I'm about to page the cashier back up to the front - and then I see Deadhead walk up to the customer service counter, and start slamming bags of bulk product onto it, and ranting at her. A few minutes later, she signals for me to come over and it turns out he wants to return about half of the stuff he just bought. I get dragged into his rant as I come over to approve the return;
D: All of this is supposed to cost $25. You're telling me the price just goes up just like that?
CS: The prices are what they are, sir. I don't control them.
D: Who makes that decision?
CS: I think Corporate makes that decision.
D: Fuck Corporate! I bet they raised the price because this is This Town. It's different at other Stores, isn't it?
CS: I don't know.
D: (sees my supervisor badge) Do you know? Is it different at other Stores?
Me: Our prices vary from location to location.
D: I KNEW it! You can't let them fuck us over like this just 'cause this is This Town! They're trying to gentrify us all out of here!
Me: I don't know what to tell you, sir. Those decisions aren't made at my level.
D: Oh, you just do what they say, don't you? See how you'll like it when you don't have water to drink, or food to eat, and you can't afford to live here! They're turning This Town pagan! They're trying to do it to Next Town Over too! When Corporate tells you to raise prices, you need to tell them to shove their prices up their fuckin' ass!
Next customer in line: Are you done?
D: Fuck you!
Next customer: You have a good day. (walks up and puts his stuff on the counter)
Deadhead then storms off with his refund and everyone in the growing line at customer service breathes a sigh of relief. I go to the breakroom and let the cashier know the coast is clear, she's not in any trouble, she didn't do anything wrong, and there's nothing anyone in the Store could have said that would have made him happy. She thanks me, lets the SM out of the checkstand, and gets back to work relieved.
Now, I wouldn't call myself a Deadhead. (I don't do any drugs, so I'm far too Melvin for their lot.
) But I have seen the Dead a few times, I own several of their albums and shirts (including the same one this guy was wearing), and I've encountered quite a few Deadheads in my time. All the Deadheads I've encountered have been mellow, laid-back, peace-loving people, who just want to consume some mind-altering substances and listen to lengthy country-rock jam sessions and half-hour drum solos. They don't like big corporations, and they probably voted for Bernie Sanders, but they're no more in-your-face about it than your friend on Facebook who keeps posting about how awesome it is to be vegan.This guy was the angriest Deadhead I have ever met. Some people are just so miserable and mad at the world that they have to inflict on everyone else around them as well. Honestly, I'm surprised SM didn't just call security and have him escorted out, but that would probably have resulted in an even bigger scene.
A little while later, I poked my head into SM's office while he was going over some emails.
Me: For what it's worth, the customer in front of that guy wanted to let us know that Cashier was very nice and polite to him.
SM: (laughs) Yeah, I thought so.
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