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Today I was at Costco with my sons. It was around 6:00 pm when this happened.
We were close to leaving when we noticed that there was a vendor with sugar free chocolates. We stopped while I read the ingredients. They seemed nice and I thought spending a little extra on them for the kids could be a better choice than the usual Hershey bars. In the meantime, the vendor was talking to some old geezer (yes, he earned that title) who kept talking on and on about nothing in particular.
We waited a couple of minutes then the OG finally decided he would buy a box of chocolates. My older son, who exhibits many symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, finally said, before he realized that the OG had finally asked for ONE box of dark chocolates bars, "Excuse me, sir, could we try the chocolate?"
The vendor was, by now, finally filling a box with the requested chocolate bars. In the meantime, another mother, with her young daughter, was also waiting for attention.
I told my son, "Honey, just wait a minute. The man is buying a box of candy. When he's done you'll get your sample." So the boys continued to wait, I thought, pretty patiently, as OG continues to run his mouth and the vendor keeps talking with him.
Older son waits until the box is almost done (in the meantime, the vendor had not bothered to take even a second to acknowledge me or the other woman waiting), to say, "Excuse me, sir . . . "
The vendor then snaps, "We're closing shortly and you'll only have time to try one sample."
OS says, "That's all we wanted to try," very matter of factly, but politely. I started to get pissed, but the kids wanted to try the chocolate, so I waited.
Finally, the vendor finishes filling the ONE box the man had originally requested. Seeing this, my son says, "Sir, we'd like to try . . ."
He is immediately cut off by the vendor, who is now filling a second box of candy for OG. "When I'm done, I'll get it for you. Don't be smart."
At which point I wanted to reach across that table and smack him so hard his head would spin. Instead, I thought it better that I not make a scene in front of not only my kids but the other child, so I said loudly, "Let's go. He had no right to say what he did to you, OS. You're my son. He has no right to speak to you that way."
My younger son didn't say anything, just followed me. My older son said, "Why? What did he say?"
I told him that the way the vendor had been speaking in a short manner to him, and then saying, "Don't be smart," was completely wrong, that OS had been nothing but polite. My son still didn't understand. I wanted to start crying right there. I explained that the vendor meant that OS should not be a smart ass, but that OS had been completely polite. The vendor should not have spoken that way to him or to any child.
I ended up buying them their choice of candy bars and we left. I was still so angry, and I almost turned around to go back, but I didn't want to leave the kids in the car and I didn't want to explode in front of them or anyone else.
As I drove home, I finally called the Costco store. I spoke to a woman in the admin office, explained to her that I didn't want the vendor fired or anything like that, but that he had been completely out of line and what had happened, starting to cry in my anger and frustration. She had been kind of listening with a "Uh huh, okay," attitude, until I mentioned the "Don't be smart," comment. At that, she seemed to finally snap to. She apologized profusely, and told me the store would be contacting the vendor and the company about his behavior. I repeated that I didn't want him fired. She told me that vendors practically beg for space in Costco stores and that behavior like that was not tolerated.
We got home and I was still crying. I told my husband and now he wants to go back to the store tomorrow to confront the vendor. I told him we didn't even know if the guy would be there, but if it made him feel better, then fine.
I'm sure that the vendor was tired and probably sick of kids begging for samples. My husband agreed. But he could have taken five seconds to acknowledge those of us who were waiting while he waited on OG. He could have stopped after the first box and told OG that he would be just a minute and gotten everyone their samples. But he chose to be a dick to a child.
We were close to leaving when we noticed that there was a vendor with sugar free chocolates. We stopped while I read the ingredients. They seemed nice and I thought spending a little extra on them for the kids could be a better choice than the usual Hershey bars. In the meantime, the vendor was talking to some old geezer (yes, he earned that title) who kept talking on and on about nothing in particular.
We waited a couple of minutes then the OG finally decided he would buy a box of chocolates. My older son, who exhibits many symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, finally said, before he realized that the OG had finally asked for ONE box of dark chocolates bars, "Excuse me, sir, could we try the chocolate?"
The vendor was, by now, finally filling a box with the requested chocolate bars. In the meantime, another mother, with her young daughter, was also waiting for attention.
I told my son, "Honey, just wait a minute. The man is buying a box of candy. When he's done you'll get your sample." So the boys continued to wait, I thought, pretty patiently, as OG continues to run his mouth and the vendor keeps talking with him.
Older son waits until the box is almost done (in the meantime, the vendor had not bothered to take even a second to acknowledge me or the other woman waiting), to say, "Excuse me, sir . . . "
The vendor then snaps, "We're closing shortly and you'll only have time to try one sample."
OS says, "That's all we wanted to try," very matter of factly, but politely. I started to get pissed, but the kids wanted to try the chocolate, so I waited.
Finally, the vendor finishes filling the ONE box the man had originally requested. Seeing this, my son says, "Sir, we'd like to try . . ."
He is immediately cut off by the vendor, who is now filling a second box of candy for OG. "When I'm done, I'll get it for you. Don't be smart."
At which point I wanted to reach across that table and smack him so hard his head would spin. Instead, I thought it better that I not make a scene in front of not only my kids but the other child, so I said loudly, "Let's go. He had no right to say what he did to you, OS. You're my son. He has no right to speak to you that way."
My younger son didn't say anything, just followed me. My older son said, "Why? What did he say?"
I told him that the way the vendor had been speaking in a short manner to him, and then saying, "Don't be smart," was completely wrong, that OS had been nothing but polite. My son still didn't understand. I wanted to start crying right there. I explained that the vendor meant that OS should not be a smart ass, but that OS had been completely polite. The vendor should not have spoken that way to him or to any child.
I ended up buying them their choice of candy bars and we left. I was still so angry, and I almost turned around to go back, but I didn't want to leave the kids in the car and I didn't want to explode in front of them or anyone else.
As I drove home, I finally called the Costco store. I spoke to a woman in the admin office, explained to her that I didn't want the vendor fired or anything like that, but that he had been completely out of line and what had happened, starting to cry in my anger and frustration. She had been kind of listening with a "Uh huh, okay," attitude, until I mentioned the "Don't be smart," comment. At that, she seemed to finally snap to. She apologized profusely, and told me the store would be contacting the vendor and the company about his behavior. I repeated that I didn't want him fired. She told me that vendors practically beg for space in Costco stores and that behavior like that was not tolerated.
We got home and I was still crying. I told my husband and now he wants to go back to the store tomorrow to confront the vendor. I told him we didn't even know if the guy would be there, but if it made him feel better, then fine.
I'm sure that the vendor was tired and probably sick of kids begging for samples. My husband agreed. But he could have taken five seconds to acknowledge those of us who were waiting while he waited on OG. He could have stopped after the first box and told OG that he would be just a minute and gotten everyone their samples. But he chose to be a dick to a child.
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