"Do you treat all your customers like that?"

[BrenDAnn]

Busy, yet uneventful day today, for the most part. There's always that one customer though, y'know? This one happened to come in late in my shift, and asked for a lighter. I gestured toward the rack on the counter and told him to pick one out. He asked if we had any cheap ones, to which I shrugged. I really don't keep track of lighter prices, buddy, sorry. Next thing I know I'm blindsided with:

"You havin' a bad day, man?"
Cue me blinking in confusion
"You treat all your customers like that?"
I blinked again, honestly taken off guard, and replied that I honestly didn't know the prices on the lighters. I finished up his transaction, and of course he had to get in one last parting shot; "I hope you have a better day." Why? Just why? Do I look like that much of a bitch? Really, all I did was shrug because I didn't know the answer to his question. I mean, I'm sorry I didn't bend over and kiss his ass...eh...no, I'm actually not. Fuck it.

[Food Lady]

I go through this all. the. time. It's not you. It's people--especially midwestern ones--thinking every single person they come into contact with must be a master of smalltalk. No one here can be real, so they've elevated small talk to a culture. If I don't have anything valuable to say, I'm not gonna say anything. Let's move to NY, where people don't have time for passive-aggressive social games.

[Geek King]

"I hope you have a better day."

"Its looking up the closer you get to the door, sir."

Maybe there's a reason why I was kept back in the stockroom.