What is so wrong with adjectives?

[Trayol]

Has there been a moratorium on their use? I know I learned them in grade school, so why is it that some of my customers forget of their existence until it's dragged out of them? It's even worse that these customers are usually in the drive-thru. Here are some of the more memorable ones:

1. "I want two vanilla."
Really? If the two vanilla are the same, then there are at least two dozen possibilities that the dairy store could sell you. If you want me to choose, I'll gladly sell you the most expensive item. It would easily set you back $100. This guy ended up wanting shakes.

2. "Can I have the real fruit and juice smoothie."
I'm glad you took the time to read the menu board, truly. However, if you were to continue reading, you would see the flavors of the smoothies. What you told me was merely a colorful description thought up by corporate to use in place of "smoothie".

3. "I would like (random #) of white milk."
As opposed to what? Gray, blue, pink? I don't know where you normally buy milk, but here it comes in whole, 2% and skim.

4. Here's a kicker I had the last time I worked as verbatim as possible. I was running drive while my coworker used the bathroom. A couple drove up combining their lack of adjective use with several other pet peeves: ordering from the passenger seat and not listening.
DM: Driving Male SF: Sucky Female Me: My bitter half
Headset beeps.
Me: (Greeting Spiel)
DM: Just a moment
Moment passes.
DM: Could I have 1 scoop coffee.
Me: "internal sigh" In a cup or a cone.
SF: (not listening)2 coffees.
Me: "internal eye rolling" (failing to harness presumed telepathic powers and still in a nice tone) Did you want two 1 scoops of coffee or 1 two scoop of coffee.
SF: 2 COFFEE. (screeched in an "Oh my God, how can you not know what I'm not conveying through my lack of word usage" tone)
Me: (removing mental gloves; puts on "talk to idiot tone") Did, you, want, two, 1 scoops, of, coffee, or, 1, two scoops, of coffee?*
SF: (slightly less screechy but clearly offended tone) two 1 scoops.
Me: (still in my tone) in cups or cones.
SF: Cones.
Me: Plain, Sugar or Waffle.
SF: Plain.
Me: Anything Else for you today?
SF: one 2% milk.
Me: Would that be all?
SF: Yes.
Me: (gives total)
When they reached the window, the transaction went through quietly. I believe SF saw the error of her ways, or didn't want to complain to me as I'm 6'6" and 375+lbs
Normally I don't do things like this, but that tone just irritated me. I also am leaving for school in two weeks and could care less if they complained.

*The pauses weren't long enough for periods.

[Fire_on_High]

3. "I would like (random #) of white milk."
As opposed to what? Gray, blue, pink? I don't know where you normally buy milk, but here it comes in whole, 2% and skim.

Chocolate?

[EricKei]

3. "I would like (random #) of white milk."
As opposed to what? Gray, blue, pink? I don't know where you normally buy milk, but here it comes in whole, 2% and skim.

Well I have seen strawberry milk before (strawberry quik premixed with milk in little bottles). Ick.

[Fox One]

Well I have seen strawberry milk before (strawberry quik premixed with milk in little bottles). Ick.

Hey! That's my childhood...

[Broomjockey]

Well I have seen strawberry milk before (strawberry quik premixed with milk in little bottles). Ick.

I've seen white, brown, pink, and blue milk. I forget what the blue milk was supposed to be. I do remember not liking it...

[Lingering Grin]

I've also seen Yellow milk...


Though, it was originally white

[Food Lady]

OP, I feel your pain. I'm going to start giving them the largest size of whatever they don't specify. You know, make the store some money...

[XCashier]

OP, I feel your pain. I'm going to start giving them the largest size of whatever they don't specify. You know, make the store some money...

And then the SC will throw it in your face and scream that it's not what he wanted. Hate to say it, but it's better to play Twenty Questions and get them what they are actually wanting.

Still, it is stupid that they're not being properly specific. Use Your Words, just like we were all taught in kindergarten.

[dalesys]

I've also seen Yellow milk...


Though, it was originally white

All Jersey was yellowish... back in the day when high-fat was preferred to any kind of scum skim milk.

[Lingering Grin]

All Jersey was yellowish... back in the day when high-fat was preferred to any kind of scum skim milk.

ugh, I prefer 2% or whole, anything less is just water.

[mharbourgirl]

I've seen white, brown, pink, and blue milk. I forget what the blue milk was supposed to be. I do remember not liking it...

Well, I do know that 'blue' milk is an old-fashioned way of describing milk that's been skimmed twice, back in the pre-pasteurization days when you used a manual separator to get the cream off the milk. A normal farmer would skim once. A 'thrifty' (aka stingy/cheap/skinflint) farmer would skim it twice. The result was called 'blue milk', and it was never a complimentary phrase.

My grandparents were farmers, I picked up all kinds of interesting tidbits about farming as a kid.

[Broomjockey]

Well, I do know that 'blue' milk is an old-fashioned way of describing milk that's been skimmed twice,

I'd forgotten that. I think my grandma told me about that.

But no, this was milk flavoured blue. It fact, it might have tasted blue. Like how NyQuil tastes like red, or green. Or Buckley's tastes like burning.

[Dave1982]

ugh, I prefer 2% or whole, anything less is just water.

Unless you've only ever had low-fat milk, in which case anything more than 1% is like drinking cream.

ETA: Speaking of "colored" milk, for many years we've referred to skim milk as "pink milk" in my family because the local supermarket chain's skim milk always has a bright pink label and cap.

And getting back on topic, I too hate people who aren't specific enough. I've complained many times about people looking for ink and specifying nothing more than the brand name, but this brought to mind something from WAY back, from my supermarket days (a dark chapter of my life that I seldom post about).

As anyone who's sold cigarettes knows, Marlboro Lights are VERY popular. Most of the time people (at least at this particular store) bought single packs, but purchases of cartons were hardly uncommon.

There was this one time when a Sucky Woman at a normal register (not the cigarette counter) asked for "Marlboro Lights, 2." The supervisor asked "2 packs or 2 cartons?" and she YELLED "MARLBORO LIGHTS!!!! TWO!!!!!!"

He got her two packs, and that turned out to be what she wanted.

[Primer]

There was this one time when a Sucky Woman at a normal register (not the cigarette counter) asked for "Marlboro Lights, 2." The supervisor asked "2 packs or 2 cartons?" and she YELLED "MARLBORO LIGHTS!!!! TWO!!!!!!"

He got her two packs, and that turned out to be what she wanted.

Kings or 100's? Soft pack or box? Still too many choices!

[EricKei]

ugh, I prefer 2% or whole, anything less is just water.

I must agree. I prefer my milk to taste like milk, not water >_<

My Dad's doctor actually forbad him to drink skim milk at all (he was diabetic), supposedly due to higher sugar content.