Woman with teenage hellions was ahead of me in checkout the other day. She's got the belt *piled* with her crap, and there was a huge, precariously balanced case of DIY furniture in her cart (with more stuff still squished under it). Her brats are rifling through the candies and the little extras around the checkout. I knew something was up from the way two of the boys were sniggering around the candy bars. Mom is making a scene about not wanting to pull the rest of her stuff out of her cart and demanding in a very obnoxious tone that the furniture be discounted because the box is dented (the edge was torn and you could see the damage didn't go through the styrofoam inside, but she wouldn't listen).
The cashier is an older gentleman, soft spoken but using a firm tone of voice. Very professional, very polite, and more patient than I would have been with the situation.
The boys squeeze past mom in full rant, trying to get to the end of the checkout aisle, and this is when we all learn that the polite man dealing with mom is more observant than we give him credit for being. Dropping his explanation to mom mid-sentence, he holds his hand out the the boys and demands (still in a calm voice) that they hand over the candy bars they shoved in their pockets.
Mom goes ape shit, pissed that he would accuse her precious boys of trying to steal candy. Does he think she can't afford to buy them candy if they want it?!?!?
He continues to give the boys the Stare of Authority, holding out his hand for the candy. They balk for about 5 seconds before pulling the candy out and handing it to him. The fact that the boys really *had* been stealing doesn't slow mom down a bit. Apparently, she
1) has never been so insulted in her whole life,
2) doesn't appreciate his attitude, and
3) isn't going to shop there ever again.
At that point she storms out, leaving her crap piled on the belt and sending the cart with the furniture in it drifting precipitously towards the glass doors of the nearby ice machine.
The cashier looks at me, still holding the candy bars, completely unphased by her outburst and departure and says "I'd hate to see what she'd have done if I'd called security."
Sweet!
The cashier is an older gentleman, soft spoken but using a firm tone of voice. Very professional, very polite, and more patient than I would have been with the situation.
The boys squeeze past mom in full rant, trying to get to the end of the checkout aisle, and this is when we all learn that the polite man dealing with mom is more observant than we give him credit for being. Dropping his explanation to mom mid-sentence, he holds his hand out the the boys and demands (still in a calm voice) that they hand over the candy bars they shoved in their pockets.
Mom goes ape shit, pissed that he would accuse her precious boys of trying to steal candy. Does he think she can't afford to buy them candy if they want it?!?!?
He continues to give the boys the Stare of Authority, holding out his hand for the candy. They balk for about 5 seconds before pulling the candy out and handing it to him. The fact that the boys really *had* been stealing doesn't slow mom down a bit. Apparently, she
1) has never been so insulted in her whole life,
2) doesn't appreciate his attitude, and
3) isn't going to shop there ever again.
At that point she storms out, leaving her crap piled on the belt and sending the cart with the furniture in it drifting precipitously towards the glass doors of the nearby ice machine.
The cashier looks at me, still holding the candy bars, completely unphased by her outburst and departure and says "I'd hate to see what she'd have done if I'd called security."
Sweet!
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