Have I pissed you off?

I had one particularly bad customer today. We were EXTREMELY short-handed while at the same time EXTREMELY busy--a bad combination.

I was helping the lady, probably 40 or 50 years old. Not old enough to be senile, but old enough to be able to look around and see that there were other people who needed help so she should ask her questions QUICKLY and let me help other people. Of course she wouldn't do that! She was indecisive and continued to ask me which item she should buy. Well, that all depends on what you want to do. She never adequately explained what she wanted the item for, so I couldn't very well recommend which of the 50+ items would work best for her. Finally I just picked one, not caring if it did what she wanted or not.

Then she had another stupid question. Then another. When she got to the cashier she questioned the price of EVERYTHING (our prices are very clearly marked) so I ended up cashing her out. She continued talking, asking questions totally unrelated to the merchandise, and even filling me in on her life story. I stopped responding to her comments so that she would pay attention and finish writing her check. {THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY.....IT'S CALLED A DEBIT CARD.}

As we were finishing she asked, "Have I pissed you off?"

I hesitated, {OF COURSE YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF! YOU'RE STUPID AND HAVE NO CONSIDERATION FOR OTHER PEOPLE! I don't need to know that you almost died twice from heart failure and your husband doesn't think you should get another dog because you have too many pets and you're thinking about changing brands of toothpaste but you've had the one kind for so long that you're just not sure yet. There are other customers in the store who need my help! I need to use my key to unlock an expensive item for that woman; that man needs something from the top shelf; the kid over there wants a job application; the old lady needs someone to carry the heavy item to her car; the cashier needs change; another cashier needs a void; there's a spill that needs to be cleaned up NOW............} "No ma'am, it's just that there are a lot of other people who need help."

"You should have told me you were busy so I could have gotten someone else to help me."

"There is NO ONE ELSE."

"Oh. Is _____ still the manager?"

"Yes." {Is that supposed to be a THREAT?}

If she knows the manager, then the manager likely knows her and how ANNOYINGLY STUPID she is.

After we finished the transaction she looked around a little more, continuing to make stupid comments and take up the time of no less than 3 employees. Before she left she commented to another employee about "how rude" I was. Yeah. Whatever. I warned the store manager that the lady might call her to complain about me. The manager had no idea who the lady was, even when I described the way she looked and acted in great detail. I explained the situation, how busy it was, how much time she was taking up, and exactly what I did and said. I'm rude because I won't listen to her? I don't think so. Anyway, if the lady calls to complain, the manager will listen sympathetically, explain how busy it was, apologize, promise that I'll be beaten, etc., and then do nothing further about it.

On a good note, our office called with approval to hire THREE employees. : ) Perhaps we'll be back to normal and fully staffed soon.