Do I look like I work here?

[TheSnakeLady]

So I was grocery shopping at Safeway. A bit of background, Safeway employees wear white or tan shirts (not polo shirts), and typically a black apron or something with the Safeway logo on it.

I'm doing my grocery shopping, and have a cart full of groceries. Since most of my clothes were in the to-be-washed pile, I had on a turquoise blue polo shirt. But somehow I looked like I was THE person to ask for help, at least to two people.

Where's the Cheese?

This guy wasn't really sucky, as I suppose he probably couldn't find an employee to ask, but he came up to me with a lost look on his face and asked me where to find the cheese at, as he couldn't find the right aisle. I directed him towards the aisle with all the normal cheese (as there's also a little rack near the deli that has the fancier kinds). So far, so good.

FINE!

Two aisles over from where I met the Lost Cheese Man, a little girl of about 8 or 9 years old comes up to me and asks me to help her get something down off the top shelf. Now, I'm not the tallest person in the world, (5'2") but hey, I must look tall to a little girl, and she was kinda cute so I figured I'd help her.

Me: TheSnakeLady
LMSC: Little Miss SC

LMSC: (polite at first) Could you help me get something down?
Me: Sure, what do you want?
LMSC: *points up to the top shelf* The fish plate.
Me: OK, the fishy plate?
*I reach up and take the plate in front that has fishes on it, and offer it to the little girl.*

LMSC: No! Not that one, the one behind it!

Me: ... *looks up and sure enough, there's a different design further back behind on the top shelf*
Me: I can't reach that one, you'll have to find someone who works here that has access to a stepstool.

LMSC: *gives me this glare of death as I push my cart away*
LMSC: FINE!


If that's how she reacts now when strangers try to help her, I imagine she's going to be a regular full blown entitlement whore when she grows up.

[moogie]

You, too?

That happens to me quite a bit. It doesn't matter what I'm wearing, or the fact that I am obviously shopping myself. It's usually little old ladies that ask me, and I'm happy to help. Most of the time they are asking me to help them get something off a high shelf, I'm 5'10".

[Mouse]

I've done the same thing as the first gentleman before, but only really at the commisary (military base grocery store) because generally they are all the same and i couldn't find someone who works there to help

[jais]

I've had people ask me where to find stuff in the grocery store before. I figure they see a full cart and figure I know what's up. I'd also like to think I look 'not stupid'.

I'm 5'3" and I've asked people to help me reach stuff at that was too far back on the top shelf before. But I'm always sure to include a please and a thank you when they do it.

[gremcint]

hello I am a robot.

I have a height of six feet one inch

I will retrieve all items I am capable of retrieving, if you meet the needs of my programming.

My programming requires you to ASK politely and remain polite, failure to meet these needs will result in noncompliance.

These are the gremcint laws of robotics.

[ChillyIllusionist]

so far i haven;t been asked outside of work to find things, but when I'm at work, but off the clock I get it.

I can be out of uniform (navy blue shirt and tan pants) wearing a black skirt with knee high socks and people will recognize my face and ask me to get them stuff. now, off the clock I can't even so much as point without getting in trouble, so its very annoying. I mean, come on, I'm totally not in uniform damnit!

[Food Lady]

I had the same thing happen to me as the above post. Ridiculous. The SC asked for my name, presumably to tell on me. But if I walk around the store IN UNIFORM, with no cart, no purse, no jacket, no one bothers me. But in street clothes they do. ???

[infinitemonkies]

A true SC can sense competance.
It's as through they have a 4th sense (sight and hearing not being among those senses.) They sniff out adequacy like a lion stalking a wounded gazelle, and once you're in their sights, they go in for the kill.

A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul.

[FenigDurak]

I frequent 3 different grocery stores in town of the same name (Way of the Safe) and each are laid out differently. Two are mirrors of one another and the third is set up completely different than the other two. So after a while of being asked where things are that I have no idea (I didn't know I could buy cans of baby corn at the Way of the Safe until one person took me by the hand to show me. All I could say was 'Why did you ask me if you knew where it was?" and then bought 6 for my fiance who LOVES baby corn.).

So now, I either paste a lost look on my face (has yet to confuse a real employee) or put my list on REALLY large paper (wide ruled notebook with the torn fringe still on). It seems to work for me with one exception. A lady asked me if I had tried some touch of jalapeno potato chips and if they were hot. No clue.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

A true SC can sense competance.
It's as through they have a 4th sense (sight and hearing not being among those senses.) They sniff out adequacy like a lion stalking a wounded gazelle, and once you're in their sights, they go in for the kill.

A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul.

This entire post is freaking brilliant.

[bainsidhe]

A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul.

Awesome. I'm going to borrow this.

[gremcint]

A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul.

Shang Tsung: You're out of cat food? YOUR SOUL IS MINE.

Narrator: FATALITY clean up in ailse 1

[bean]

I admit, I've pointed people in the right direction when I'm off the clock and shopping in my own store.

But one day, way back in the early 2000s, I was in my Papa John's Pizza uniform and shopping in the neighboring Tom Thumb (now owned by Safeway).

Granted, the Tom Thumb uniform at the time was a red polo with khaki pants, so was the PJ's uniform - except the PJ's uniform had Papa John's logos on the chest AND arms, along with the nametag. A coworker and I were in there in our PJ's uniforms after work one day and a customer came up to us and asked us where some random item was.

Us: "Uhm... we don't know."
Her: "Well don't you WORK HERE?!?"
Us: "No! *points at PJ's logo on shirt while grinning*"

At least she had the decency to apologize.