Must...not...laugh at customers...

[MrDelirious]

This happened today, during a busy period.

Lady comes up with a bunch of pens and a single manila folder. I ring up the pens, and I grab the folder so I can pick it up to scan it (we sell single folders like this, $0.19 a piece, for those who don't need 50 of them). Well, it's HER folder, she's not buying it (Customers: Do not put YOUR **** on the counter with the **** you're buying. Thank you.) Out come some 35mm film negatives.

Me: Oops, sorry. *i try to put them back in*

Now, when was the last time you even SAW 35mm negatives? Well, in my haste to help this lady, I forgot you weren't supposed to touch them.

Her: *switches into UBER PISSED MODE in record time* Don't touch those! God!

Text does no justice to the "I-can't-believe-I-have-to-deal-with-such-incompetence" tone of voice.

Me: Sorry ma'am. *continues scanning*
Her: *under breath, angrily replacing negatives* Je-sus Christ.

Now, not long ago, that would have made me cry, or almost cry. (I was a huge crybaby when I was young, it boggles the mind) Now, it's all I can do to not say.

Mental Me: I'm flattered, but Mr Delirious will do just fine.

So I was able to finish the sale with a smile.

[rerant]

Even though she sounds to have been a bit rude, I would have been pretty pissed is someone started touching my photo negatives too. However I'm not stupid enough to leave my personal items on the desk/counter/belt/whatever.

[sarahj]

My grocery store is located on a VERY busy shopping strip. Many people shop around, putting purchases in their reusable bag, before getting their groceries. Then, instead of using a basket, they add their items to their reusable bag. At the checkout, they empty EVERYTHING onto the register, including their prior purchases of things we may (fruit/vegetables) or may not (clothes/toys) sell.

I barely pay attention to items as I scan. I just move them in front of the scanner and focus on bagging them well. So when something comes up "item not found," I get a bit confused until, "oh, I bought that at ***." OMG either bring two bags or use a basket!!! Don't mix things up or I might ring up the apples & bananas YOU put on my register without realizing they're from the store down the road.

[tangrid]

But you'd better believe that these are some of the same people that'll get uber pissed if you start asking them about each thing: "Did you pick this up here?" *beep* "Did you get this here?" *beep*, etc. Maybe if you annoy them enough, they'll learn that way... When will we get cattle prods for the re-education of these morons?

[edible_hat]

Must admit I've been guilty of that. Once. On a really bad day. The CSR scanned the book or whatever it was, it came up "not found", and she said "Oh, we don't even sell these here."

[Reyneth]

If she was so concerned with her negs, they should have been still in sleeves (or in storage/filing pages) so you touching them wouldn't do a darn thing. The inside of the envelope would easily have scratched them up.

UGH, I just remembered this crazy lady at my first photo place. She was obsessed with making sure we got all of the dust off. (Which we were good at anyway, and if there were spots, we'd check for them and reprint when they were found) She was crazy about it though. ........... to the point she'd hold her bare negative in her fingers - and not by the edges - and wipe the neg on her WOOL sweater to make sure all of the dust was removed. Yeah, those went from her hands to my manager's - I wasn't going to take the fall for the condition those negs were in!

[JenCdn]

Me: Sorry ma'am. *continues scanning*
Her: *under breath, angrily replacing negatives* Je-sus Christ.

That part is one of the things SC's do that bug me the most. Say it to my face already. At least you'd have the opportunity of maintaining "some" of my respect.

When you mumble it like that I just play along and ask innocently..."Excuse me?"

I've never had an SC repeat themselves. And it is a total stress/tension reliever that I got one back on them.

Try it next time....then smile

[BookstoreEscapee]

Her: *switches into UBER PISSED MODE in record time* Don't touch those! God!

Did anyone else hear this in Napoleon Dynamite's voice?

When you mumble it like that I just play along and ask innocently..."Excuse me?"

I've never had an SC repeat themselves. And it is a total stress/tension reliever that I got one back on them.

I had a guy once who apparently felt he had been waiting in line too long. I had just come back from a break or something, and he was my first customer. When I called him over, he said under his breath "It's about time." I didn't hear what he said at first (it was one of those delayed reaction things) and he said "never mind." Several seconds later my brain finally processed what he had said. <slap>

[XCashier]

Now, when was the last time you even SAW 35mm negatives?

Yesterday, when I picked up my photos. Some of us still use old-fashioned film cameras.

Then again, I'm smart enough to keep my negatives in their sleeves in the original photo envelope, and not put them on the counter with stuff I'm buying!

[Geek King]

A lot of pros still use film cameras. It seems there are things you can do to film negatives that just don't come out right when you do them to digital photos. Large blow-ups, and the like, I would think.