Stupidity spiral

Yesterday a great number of customers spoke to me as though they assumed I was a very stupid person. It could be that they speak to everyone this way or that I am just extra sensitive after my time in retail. Whatever the cause, it is unpleasant and leads to me playing games like purposely acting stupid and over explaining everything after people talk to me like I'm stupid and then do something stupid themselves.

Here are the most memorable moments along with the sarcasm I couldn't show at work.

-Woman with baby who came in to buy off of her friend's registry? I took her over to the registry counter and announced to the clerk that she "needed a registry". But my phrasing was too vague and she felt the need to tell us that she didn't need a registry for herself because she is happily married. Because we all thought that she was an unwed mother with a bastard son, it's 1950, what a slut.

-There was a woman buying black cushions and quizzing us on what would go with them. I asked her what sort of items she wanted and her only response was "something that looks good." Seriously. Nothing looks good with black.

-A woman bought some soap and made a fuss about the price going up. She yelled at me about how it was $3 less the last time she bought it. I looked in her sales history and saw that she hasn't bought it at the lower price since 2006. And she has bought it at higher prices 7 times since then. But maybe bitching about the price will magically lower it?

-A girl bought a single taper candle and I asked if she wanted me to wrap it in a bit of paper. Then she told me that she didn't need a bag, but couldn't I wrap it in some paper? Right. Like. I. Just. Asked. Yes. Or. No.

Bitter spew!

Please don't come back.

Today a mother and young adult daughter were in the shop and wanted a certain candle. We were out of it. After scrounging around to see if we had more, I discovered we only had a couple of tester candles. I didn't sell her the testers because:
1. I was told by my manager and a fellow employee that they were not for sale.
2. We need the testers for different sized candles in the same scent that we still have in stock.
3. They were extremely dusty.

I seriously considered just being naughty and selling her the testers, even though they are labeled "testers not for sale," but I really didn't want a sketchy, inferior product leaving the store with my name attached to the receipt for all eternity.

I politely told her that I would love to take her name and number and call her when our fresh shipment arrives. Then she used her snooty diva mother princess voice to inform me that "this was the fourth time" she had been in and we had been out every time and that she "would not be back." I splurted out some final statement on how unfortunate our shipment pattern with that company is and turned away. I was not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me grovel for her patronage.

Because she is wrong. Even if she has actually been in four times, her argument is faulty. When was she in the store? If it was four times in the past 2 weeks, we did not have the candles. She did not look at the candles and she did not know which scent she wanted; all she knew is that she wanted a large one. So we COULD have had the scent she was looking for in a smaller candle, which is not the same as being COMPLETELY out.

Of course, I just hate her attitude. And it is almost laughable to think that by verbally spanking a low ranking clerk you are going to get what you want. By threatening that she will never come back to the store, I am supposed to get scared and pull a secret stash of candles out of my ass, or at least report to the boss that a nameless high-maintenance lady that didn't buy anything wants us to get more candles here more quickly.

Bitch, I followed procedure! Learn to use the internet like the rest of the world and get your damn stink candles online! And I think I am not the only clerk that would like to tell you:

Please don't come back!!