Escarole Lettuce, Anyone?

[produce_boy]

I work in the produce department of some family owned, local grocery store. What really annoys me is when our customers try to correct us. I've been working in produce for over a year now (this is my fourth year in the whole store), so I know everything a produce clerk should know about this department.

A middle-aged woman came up to me and asked if we had any escarole. I asked her to follow me over to where the wet lettuces are, and I pointed and told her the shelf they're on.

Lady: "This isn't escarole, this is... green leaf."

I pointed at the green leaf and said, "I'm sorry, but this is green leaf." Again, pointing back at the escarole, "These are escarole."

Lady: "No, no, no. I bought escarole before. I does not look like this at all."

I reply, "I'm sorry, but this is definitely escarole."

"No, these are not. Escarole is long. I bought it before." she claims.

I stared, dumbfounded. "Allow me to get my manager to help you out."

She nods and waits, I go to the back room and tell him what's going on. We walked out the back room, and I point over to the greens and tell him who wanted help. I stay over by the tomatoes, culling the bad ones, but also watching.

I can see my manager showing her exactly what I was showing her, and she still refused. He talks to her for a bit more, turns around, and walks back toward the back room. I shrug as he walked by and he just had this annoyed look on his face.

He comes out with some other green (the name of it is totally blown from my mind at the moment) and shows it to her. It turns out that's what she wanted. She takes it and walks away.

My manager and I angerly gossip about it back in the produce room, talking trash about her to get it off of our chest. How could anyone confuse the names of two different greens that are completely different looking from each other, especially if he/she bought and used it before? People are ignorant, I tell you. And I really hate using that "i-word."

[powerboy]

That happens to me, I will mean one thing & say a different name for it. And for the record, I am not ignorant

[Ree]

for the record, I am not ignorant

Maybe you aren't, but a lot of customers are, and last I looked, this was the site where we are allowed to come and vent about the customers that tick us off.

[sms001]

How could anyone confuse the names of two different greens that are completely different looking from each other, especially if he/she bought and used it before?

Lady goes to Grocery B with recipe from Food Network or Tammy at work. Needs escarole lettuce. Approaches produce person who points out incorrect item to her. From there forward she has that lettuce firmly tagged in her mind as being escarole. It is frustrating I know. But basic human nature is that either you or Grocer B were wrong. She had to decide, and she was already invested in the wrong answer. Stubborn and sucky.

As far as using the "I" word, you're exactly right. But it isn't really an insult. Ignorance is a LACK of knowledge, not the inability to gain it, or purposeful unwillingness to be corrected. I myself am currently blissfully ignorant past romaine, bibb and good ol' iceberg. And that small curly bitter one.

I once had a (computer) client who was getting "Insufficient Memory" errors. His buddy told him to get a new hard drive. When that didn't work, he called me. I pointed out a couple of fixes, none of which had anything to do with storage. I was wrong in his mind, and I couldn't convince him. He continued running fewer apps than he had to, and your lady will keep making the wrong salad. wadda ya gonna do?

[Banrion]

That happens to me, I will mean one thing & say a different name for it. And for the record, I am not ignorant

I think we have all done that, where the suck factor comes in is the fact that she continued to argue about it after being corrected, and shown the different things.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I had a roomate that had a hard time in the produce section. She was stupid.

She wasnt' stupid because she made mistakes. She was stupid because she believed she could not possibly be in error, ever.

She was stupid because while berating me for being ignorant and a busybody, and while telling me that "I'm not stupid, you know, I'm very smart", she pressure cooked an iceburg lettuce in an attempt to make boiled cabbage.

Shows what I know.

[Seshat]

That happens to me, I will mean one thing & say a different name for it.

So will I, but I have both aphasia and the one whose name escapes me (ironic, I know), but which means that I'll substitute a word and not realise it. Calling a dog a fishtank, for example.

As sms001 pointed out, 'ignorant' is a descriptive term, not an insult. And as the Kinkoid said, admitting mistakes is a mark of intelligence, wisdom, or both.

When my lingual problems kick in, I'll eventually say 'I'm saying the wrong word, aren't I?' or if it's aphasia, I'll describe the word I want, and apologise for being unable to think of it. It's just part of life.

[Enigma]

You can mess up names and not be ingnorant. It happens all the time, it's not a bad thing. The stupity comes in when she refused to believe you, the produce clerk.

[Pedersen]

And for the record, I am not ignorant

Actually, (and as sms001 pointed out), that is the definition of ignorant. Ignorant means "I don't know". Stupid means "I don't know, and you can't teach me". Maliciously stupid means "I don't know, and I will do everything in my power to sabotage any attempt to teach me."

I've dealt with Ignorant, and Maliciously Stupid, but never found someone who was actually just stupid. I'm not sure they exist, personally.

[auntiem]

I'm a gardener so I forget that other people don't know a turnip from a bulb of fennel (or their elbow for that matter) so I only have myself to blame when I send my SO to the store with a list for our roasted root vegetable dish.
I agree with other posters, at some point she was shown the wrong thing and now refuses to believe that what you have shown her to be escarole really is escarole.

[bainsidhe]

I work as a cashier and to me, I'm afraid Escrole looks a lot like Green Lettuce. I usually ask the customer what it is. Same goes for Collard Greens vs. Mustard Greens and Bok Choy vs. I don't remember the name. I once asked a particular guy if I was ringing through Romaine lettuce (sometimes our Romaine looks similar to the Green Lettuce or the Red Lettuce, don't know why it is so different on different weeks, but then, I'm not the produce guy ). The guy looks at me in pity and says "you probably eat a lot of iceburg lettuce, don't you." I'm sure he didn't mean harm, but he said it in a way that made me feel as if I had horrible eating habits and should be pitied for my lack of knowledge. I guess him comment bothered me a bit.

[Jester]

That happens to me, I will mean one thing & say a different name for it. And for the record, I am not ignorant

I think we all do that to some degree. Lord knows I do.

I myself am currently blissfully ignorant past romaine, bibb and good ol' iceberg. And that small curly bitter one.

I would like to HIGHLY recommend red leaf lettuce, spinach, and baby spinach. All lovely greens. I use them often.

[powerboy]

I know that Produce Boy was not insulting everyone, just her. She didn't have to be sucky about it.

[Pedersen]

I know that Produce Boy was not insulting everyone, just her. She didn't have to be sucky about it.

Actually, being called ignorant is most definitely not an insult. Think about what it means: You don't know this.

You're not stupid, which means you can't learn it.

You're not maliciously stupid, which means you refuse to learn it.

You're ignorant. You just don't know it. But you can be taught. In its own right, it's actually a compliment, since it means the person thinks you can learn it.

I'm ignorant about a great many things. I try to learn what I can, though, as rapidly as I can.

[produce_boy]

I'm surprised with how many comments I got! Thanks a lot, everyone.

Also, apologies to anyone who may have been offended of me calling that woman the "i-word". It was not meant to be aimed at people in general who don't know the different between the many lettuces, but for the woman who would argue with someone who absolutely knows the difference between escarole and (I remembered the name) chicory.

Again, thanks for the replies, everyone!!