rant #1

It was pointed out to me that I had not really ranted about anything yet. So I thought I would do my first rant for this page about my favorite thing to rant about... how much people suck!!

Thursday morning I had just opened the store and was making some copies for a regular customer when a lady (and I use the term very loosely here) came in. I said hello and informed her that I would be with her just as soon as I finished loading the copier with paper. Before I could even finish the sentence, she asked how much a copy was on colored paper. I told her 13 cents. She scoffed and mumbled something under her breath. Then asked how much it would be if she made the copy herself. I told her 12 cents.

She stepped back from the counter, turned away from me and stated that "God would get me for overcharging her."

I was stunned.

I said "Excuse me? What did you say, ma'am?"

She mumbled something incoherent and walked away from the counter.

Those of you who know me know that there was no way I was going to leave this one alone. I followed her to the other side of the store and asked her again what she had said.

She stated that she had never been charged so much before, to which I responded that our prices hadn't changed in five years and that if she was unhappy with our prices she should leave, because I wasn't going to be insulted or threatened over 13 cents.

She sputtered and took the lid off of her cup of water from Starbucks. She proceeded to make rapid, jerky body movements with the cup, sloshing water all over the carpet.

I informed her again that she need to leave the store, at which point she drew the cup back and I took a step toward her and said:

"If you are thinking about throwing that water at me, I suggest you think again...on your way out the door."

At which point she left.

The problems I have with this situation are many:

First:
If she had enough money to go to Starbucks, Why was she raising such a stink over a measly 12 or 13 cents. It is highly unlikely that she would find a cheaper price around here.

Second:
We deal with a lot of crazies on Southside. Apparently when Alabama decided to shut down all their mental hospitals they gave all the inmates (oops, patients) bus tickets to Birmingham. and they have all taken up residence on the streets of Southside. Between that and the influx of crazies after Katrina hit New Orleans, the population percentage of mental defectives jumped through the roof.

Third:
On the off chance that this woman wasn't the average local mental midget, my third concern is simply

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO CIVILITY?

I loathe and despise most people just because that's who I am. But even I have mastered the ability to never let them sense that (or if they do sense it, they're too gutless to mention it to me). I treat every person who walks in the store as if their requirements are the most important thing to me. It's called doing the job.

Now I admit I sometimes get frustrated and react badly to situations, but those instances are fairly rare. I never set out to make someones life miserable unless they truly deserve it. I just don't care enough about them as the human flotsam they are to waste my time making their day difficult. Plus, and this is the most important thing, if you fulfill their requirements quickly and efficiently, they give you money and go the hell away.

OK. I'm starting to get wound up, so I'm going to call this the end of rant number1.

Remember people: be nice or be gone!