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Little old lady thief (and bonus Shorts Man and Racists!) (WARNING: RACIST LANGUAGE)

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  • Little old lady thief (and bonus Shorts Man and Racists!) (WARNING: RACIST LANGUAGE)

    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!
    Last edited by Trjgul; 05-11-2011, 11:05 AM.

  • #2
    Ooh, a broken teapot lid, what a score!

    As for the second guy, it seems to me that you would want to maintain strict eye contact with him, lest your gaze fall elsewhere. :wink:

    The last guy... just ignorant. WTF does he think, that a store in Arizona would import Mexican handicrafts from Asia? Twit.

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    • #3
      I don't think it dawned on the couple that our things might be from there. Still no excuse for what they said though.

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      • #4
        That's all the old biddy got...a tea pot and a broken lid?!! I think that called for some with Mr.Freeballer. As for the 3rd SC, what a racist jackass.
        I don't get paid enough to kiss your a**! -Groezig 5/31/08
        Another day...another million braincells lost...-Sarlon 6/16/08
        Chivalry is not dead. It's just direly underappreciated. -Samaliel 9/15/09

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        • #5
          No, that's the thing, she never bought anything! She left with the non-broken lid off the good teapot and NOTHING ELSE!

          The LP guy was floored when I told him that!

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          • #6
            That first lady and people like her are the reason I start twitching anytime an old person comes toward me. I feel bad about that, but 80% of my issues come from senior citizens.
            "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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            • #7
              Quote from the movie "Airport". "My late husband was a lawyer, and he told me to always watch out for sweet-looking little old ladies. I'm beginning to understand what he meant."

              The assistant manager of the airport in a confrontation with an old woman who's a free-ride thief specialist, and just got caught.
              Customers should always be served . . . to the nearest great white.

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              • #8
                always watch out for beady-eyed, prune-faced little old ladies
                Edited to fit my neighbor.

                It's always a shock to me to hear people still using stupid words like "chink." Rude, crude, racist idiots.
                When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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                • #9
                  Hey... people in China have to make a living too... jack ass. If anyone, blame the governments for allowing this stuff.
                  Or y'know, yourself, 'cuz you certainly vote, yeees?/sweetly
                  ... People who are kleptomaniacs steal and they don't even realize it, and usually it's stuff like paperclips, pens, used shoes... stuff that's not worth much. Somehow, I doubt she's a klepto.
                  "Is it the lie that keeps you sane? Is this the lie that keeps you sane?What is it?Can it be?Ought it to exist?"
                  "...and may it be that I cleave to the ugly truth, rather than the beautiful lie..."

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                  • #10
                    Gah. I had a roommate like Mr. Freeballer. He never wore underwear in his shorts
                    They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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                    • #11
                      So the little old lady did not buy the teapot with the broken cover. Instead she just randomly stole an intact cover off of another teapot?

                      That is really elaborate in an insane, senile kind of way.

                      Also, racist people suck.
                      Hinakiba777- Student of Divinity-Always trying to get laid.

                      Annoying student=I pay tuition here so I pay your salary!
                      Desk Worker=I pay tuition here, too. So I guess I pay myself.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth hinakiba777 View Post
                        So the little old lady did not buy the teapot with the broken cover. Instead she just randomly stole an intact cover off of another teapot?

                        That is really elaborate in an insane, senile kind of way.
                        My understanding of the OP was the old lady stole the chipped lid.
                        "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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                        • #13
                          My understanding of the OP was the old lady stole the chipped lid.
                          Indeed so.
                          Her face twitches and she says in her nastiest, snottiest tone, "I will not buy broken things!"
                          Precisely...she will not BUY broken things...she only STEALS them *facepalm*
                          "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                          "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                          "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                          "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                          "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                          "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                          Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
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                          • #14
                            I edited the post to be clearer. Sorry about that!

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                            • #15
                              Quoth slavetotheman View Post
                              WTF does he think, that a store in Arizona would import Mexican handicrafts from Asia? Twit.
                              There's something of an industry for fake "Native American" jewelry and fetish carvings out of Asia (probably a bigger problem in the Northeast and other regions where people might not know it's fake), so if an artist isn't identified one should be careful especially if the store doesn't know their stuff.

                              A friend got suckered on a fake fetish necklace and keeps insisting it's real even after I showed her how to tell it's fake.
                              "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                              "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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