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Let me tell you about this gem of a customer I had last night.
SC: Sucky customer
SCW: Sucky customer’s wife
Me: should be obvious
So it’s getting rather late in the evening. We’ve been keeping up on go-backs, I’ve got some dusting done already – pretty much the store looks great. This means I’m in a real good mood and fairly relaxed (my work persona is cheery, but it wasn’t an act this time).
While I was finishing up helping a customer at customer service this woman walks up. Once I was done I turned to her:
Me: *Cheerful* “Hello! How may I help you?”
SCW: “I’m looking for a book. It’s the question what would Jesus do.”
Me: “Hmm. I’m getting only a few titles for what would Jesus do but none are physically in the store. Do you know who the author is, by any chance?”
SCW: “It’s the question what would Jesus do.”
Me:
“OK. I put in The question what would Jesus do in the general search engine but only one title comes up and it’s about excesses in the Catholic church. Is that what you were looking for?”
SCW: “I don’t think so.” *Calls* “Hey honey, what exactly were you looking for again?”
SC: *Comes up to the desk* “I’m just looking for a book that answers the question what would Jesus do.”
Me: *Thinking* Well, that’s rather vague.
SC: *Stares*
You know how sometimes you can instinctually predict that things won’t end well? This was one of those times.
Me: *Still cheerful but beginning to droop* “Is there a particular title or author that you’re looking for? These computers only search with those parameters. I already checked the general search and not much came up.”
SC: *Uses hands to indicate the area around him* “Well, you work here don’t you? Why don’t you just use your personal knowledge of books to help me out?”
Me:
…
SC: *Stares*
Me: *Trying*“I can take you to the Christian inspiration section-“
SC:*Cuts me off* “You mean you’re a bookseller and you don’t know the books inside your store?”
Why yes, you inconsiderate, condescending, lazy excuse for a patron. I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of the contents in every book in my large, national chain bookstore. Could this be that books go out of print, new books are being printed, plus I don’t have the time or mental capacity to read and remember every single book that is somewhat associated with the building? Newsflash: what you are asking is not possible.
Me: *Somewhat upset but trying to be sweet* “Well sir, I could help you out with the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section and my knowledge of graphic novels is relatively good…”
SC: *Stares* “Thank you. You’ve been completely unhelpful.” *stalks off*
WTF.
I can’t even begin to imagine how many books have been written trying to answer, analyze, or debate the question of “what would Jesus do”. How would I know what you would and would not like? I am not going to waste time that I could use to help other customers or do store-related chores to try and magically summon a book out of the air for your highness. I always try to help but once you get patronizing on me I am not going to do anything extra - your kind wouldn’t appreciate it anyway.
This encounter reminded me of when I was a young naïve bookseller and I got yelled at by some gentlemen because I had the audacity to be unable to order a book that was out of print. Being loudly and explosively lectured that my bookstore should be able to get any book ever written was a once in a lifetime experience. The fact that they were African and that I could only understand 2/3’s of what they said due to their accents made the situation that more surreal.
SC: Sucky customer
SCW: Sucky customer’s wife
Me: should be obvious
So it’s getting rather late in the evening. We’ve been keeping up on go-backs, I’ve got some dusting done already – pretty much the store looks great. This means I’m in a real good mood and fairly relaxed (my work persona is cheery, but it wasn’t an act this time).
While I was finishing up helping a customer at customer service this woman walks up. Once I was done I turned to her:
Me: *Cheerful* “Hello! How may I help you?”
SCW: “I’m looking for a book. It’s the question what would Jesus do.”
Me: “Hmm. I’m getting only a few titles for what would Jesus do but none are physically in the store. Do you know who the author is, by any chance?”
SCW: “It’s the question what would Jesus do.”
Me:
“OK. I put in The question what would Jesus do in the general search engine but only one title comes up and it’s about excesses in the Catholic church. Is that what you were looking for?”SCW: “I don’t think so.” *Calls* “Hey honey, what exactly were you looking for again?”
SC: *Comes up to the desk* “I’m just looking for a book that answers the question what would Jesus do.”
Me: *Thinking* Well, that’s rather vague.
SC: *Stares*
You know how sometimes you can instinctually predict that things won’t end well? This was one of those times.
Me: *Still cheerful but beginning to droop* “Is there a particular title or author that you’re looking for? These computers only search with those parameters. I already checked the general search and not much came up.”
SC: *Uses hands to indicate the area around him* “Well, you work here don’t you? Why don’t you just use your personal knowledge of books to help me out?”
Me:
…SC: *Stares*
Me: *Trying*“I can take you to the Christian inspiration section-“
SC:*Cuts me off* “You mean you’re a bookseller and you don’t know the books inside your store?”
Why yes, you inconsiderate, condescending, lazy excuse for a patron. I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of the contents in every book in my large, national chain bookstore. Could this be that books go out of print, new books are being printed, plus I don’t have the time or mental capacity to read and remember every single book that is somewhat associated with the building? Newsflash: what you are asking is not possible.
Me: *Somewhat upset but trying to be sweet* “Well sir, I could help you out with the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section and my knowledge of graphic novels is relatively good…”
SC: *Stares* “Thank you. You’ve been completely unhelpful.” *stalks off*
WTF.
I can’t even begin to imagine how many books have been written trying to answer, analyze, or debate the question of “what would Jesus do”. How would I know what you would and would not like? I am not going to waste time that I could use to help other customers or do store-related chores to try and magically summon a book out of the air for your highness. I always try to help but once you get patronizing on me I am not going to do anything extra - your kind wouldn’t appreciate it anyway.This encounter reminded me of when I was a young naïve bookseller and I got yelled at by some gentlemen because I had the audacity to be unable to order a book that was out of print. Being loudly and explosively lectured that my bookstore should be able to get any book ever written was a once in a lifetime experience. The fact that they were African and that I could only understand 2/3’s of what they said due to their accents made the situation that more surreal.
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