Shadow Tiger's thread about the thief reminded me of my own brush with shoplifting.
I worked at a home furnishings store for a while in Arizona. I was officially the Lamp Lady but covered Linens, Housewares, and Dinnerware also. We were a higher-end store that catered to the snowbirds and had very nice things, not least of which was the Talavera line of dinnerware. These are brightly-patterned dishes that had two different styles: De la Reina and Alphonso. No two are alike.
One day an elderly woman came in with her friend to look at the Talavera. She brought a teapot to me to ring up and I noticed it had a chip in the lid. I showed it to her and apologized, asking if she wanted the other one.
OL: Can't you just take the lid from the other one and put it on this one, I like this one better.
Me: (knowing better but trying to be nice) Let me call my manager and we'll see what we can do.
My manager takes no shit from anyone, so as the woman is browsing she tells me not only that I cannot switch them, but to watch her carefully after I tell her this. She said the most I can do is mark it down for damage and offer that. So I tell the woman this.
She does not like this. Her face twitches and she says in her nastiest, snottiest tone, "I will not buy broken things!" and huffs off. She didn't buy anything, remember.
I made the mistake of glancing down at the desk once, but when I looked up she was gone, and so was the good lid!
She took the damn thing out of spite! I paged for security but by the time anyone got there it was too late, she was gone. It pissed me off pretty badly that she thought she could do that.
Bonus stories!
Free Ballin'!
Same store, a guy comes up to me in a t-shirt and cutoff sweatshorts. We have a gym and a movie theater in the building so we get all kinds, this wasn't surprising. As he got closer though, it became quite obvious that he was not wearing underwear.
I greeted him as best as I could, but I was distracted. The guy wasn't a looker by any stretch so it was a painful experience. I had to ask a coworker to go help him.
Me: I would, but I just can't look him in the eye!
CW: Ah, OK. . .
A few minutes later, after greeting the guy:
CW: I see what you mean!
Racist idiots
Seeing as how this was Tucson, we got a majority of our home decor items from Mexico. You know, the rustic, handmade stuff. I was helping a couple looking around in the mirrors and such, and they were looking at a small metal shelf.
RH: Do you know where these were made?
Me: Well, I'm not sure offhand. . . (I'm turning it around to see if I can find a "Hecho en Mexico" sticker or other label)
I was about to add "Most of our things come in from Mexico so that's probably it" when I hear this gem:
RW: They're probably made by chinks in China.
Me:
RH: Yes, chinks in China.
I was so blown away I just walked off without another word! This store is very diverse- one of my fellow salespeople is from Africa (and many of the staff that help people load items and move things around), one coworker is Armenian, and the secretary was Japanese, and that's just a few I can recall off the top of my head. I was not thrilled, and went and found my boss to tell her what happened. She totally backed up what I did, and said if they came around asking why I just walked off, to refer them to her.
Hope you enjoyed those!
I worked at a home furnishings store for a while in Arizona. I was officially the Lamp Lady but covered Linens, Housewares, and Dinnerware also. We were a higher-end store that catered to the snowbirds and had very nice things, not least of which was the Talavera line of dinnerware. These are brightly-patterned dishes that had two different styles: De la Reina and Alphonso. No two are alike.
One day an elderly woman came in with her friend to look at the Talavera. She brought a teapot to me to ring up and I noticed it had a chip in the lid. I showed it to her and apologized, asking if she wanted the other one.
OL: Can't you just take the lid from the other one and put it on this one, I like this one better.
Me: (knowing better but trying to be nice) Let me call my manager and we'll see what we can do.
My manager takes no shit from anyone, so as the woman is browsing she tells me not only that I cannot switch them, but to watch her carefully after I tell her this. She said the most I can do is mark it down for damage and offer that. So I tell the woman this.
She does not like this. Her face twitches and she says in her nastiest, snottiest tone, "I will not buy broken things!" and huffs off. She didn't buy anything, remember.
I made the mistake of glancing down at the desk once, but when I looked up she was gone, and so was the good lid!

Bonus stories!
Free Ballin'!
Same store, a guy comes up to me in a t-shirt and cutoff sweatshorts. We have a gym and a movie theater in the building so we get all kinds, this wasn't surprising. As he got closer though, it became quite obvious that he was not wearing underwear.

I greeted him as best as I could, but I was distracted. The guy wasn't a looker by any stretch so it was a painful experience. I had to ask a coworker to go help him.
Me: I would, but I just can't look him in the eye!
CW: Ah, OK. . .
A few minutes later, after greeting the guy:
CW: I see what you mean!

Racist idiots
Seeing as how this was Tucson, we got a majority of our home decor items from Mexico. You know, the rustic, handmade stuff. I was helping a couple looking around in the mirrors and such, and they were looking at a small metal shelf.
RH: Do you know where these were made?
Me: Well, I'm not sure offhand. . . (I'm turning it around to see if I can find a "Hecho en Mexico" sticker or other label)
I was about to add "Most of our things come in from Mexico so that's probably it" when I hear this gem:
RW: They're probably made by chinks in China.
Me:

RH: Yes, chinks in China.
I was so blown away I just walked off without another word! This store is very diverse- one of my fellow salespeople is from Africa (and many of the staff that help people load items and move things around), one coworker is Armenian, and the secretary was Japanese, and that's just a few I can recall off the top of my head. I was not thrilled, and went and found my boss to tell her what happened. She totally backed up what I did, and said if they came around asking why I just walked off, to refer them to her.
Hope you enjoyed those!
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