Monday, August 06, 2007

Who's on first, old lady on second

I seem to be a magnet for old people with attitudes. They really all need to start eating more fiber, knock back some Metamucil and snack on some Fig Newtons. That way they can deposit their crap in the toilet instead of dumping it on me. When I'm old, I don't plan to be shopping at Wal-Mart. If I am, give me the Nicolae Ceauscescu treatment. Seriously. I'm not kidding.

So I'm trying to make headway on the 17 carts of reshops (things left at the registers and around the store) that magically show up at Customer Service when an old woman on one of those Wal-Mart electric carts comes blasting through. She's going hell for leather and just when I think she's going to slam into the counter, she hits the stop button and executes a turn to bring her exactly in front of my register. She's obviously got experience on these things.

Before I can even greet her, she yells out "YOU KNOW WHAT?"

She looks the type to enjoy a joke - she's driving the scooter like a Ferrari - so I answer "I don't know what, but I might know who." She cackles like a Shakespearean witch. And then resumes the loud old-person-my-hearing-is-gone yelling.

Her problem? The glass cleaner she bought was on the shelf for $2.64 and it rang up at $2.94.

"THAT'S RIGHT $2.94. AND IT WAS ON SALE FOR $2.64. RIGHT THERE ON THE SHELF."

So let me tell you, she wanted to know what I was going to do about it.

At the top of her lungs she wanted to know what I was going to do about it. The whole time she's camped out at my register she never got below a dull roar. Think freeway traffic about 5 p.m..

Fine. You'll get it for free. "Ma'am, you'll get the item for free because of our pricing policy."

Which is apparently Old Lady-ese for "tell me about your life."

While I'm mashing buttons, she's babbling like a brook. Or a Valley Girl named Brooke. Either one. As long as it made a lot of noises and not much sense.

"I only wanted it if it was on sale. I love sales."
"My daughter doesn't like that brand, but I do. So I make her clean with it."
"I always come to Wal-Mart. My daughter doesn't like it but I do. Things are so cheap here."
"It's hot outside. It's hot in here too. They should do something."
"You look tired. What time do you get off?"
"We're going to McDonald's after this. My granddaughter wants and ice cream. You should go get an ice cream. Don't you get breaks?"
"My hip is messed up and I can't walk good." But by Kali, you sure as hell can talk.

I hit TOTAL CASH TOTAL and give her money.

She signs the return slip, backs into buggy filled with housewares, then zips out of my life, calling "I hope your day gets better" over her shoulder.

All in all, not nearly as bad as it could have been, but way too much drama over thirty cents.

10 comments:

Christine said...

Sounds like the annoying old lady at my work who has to vocalize every single stupid thought that goes through her head.

Except she's there very damned day and your bag lady left. Lucky.

Unknown said...

Don't you just love those electric shopping carts??? The store I used to work at, the kids would come in and ride them through the store, knocking things off the shelves, kill the battery and leave it in the back and never say a word. I am really glad I don't do retail anymore.

Larry Kollar said...

Hey, at least she had a sense of humor & a little consideration for you. "I hope your day gets better."

I hope it does too. Every day.

Wendy said...

Sounds like someone at my store only it's the woman that answer the phones. She never shuts up AND she gets into everyone's personal business AND she sits in the breakroom and preaches how everyone should get religion. PLEASE get thee a quarter, go to the machine and get a can of SHUT UP JUICE!!!

Anonymous said...

She totally sounds like the type, that if you continue to treat her nice and at least pretend you're listening and you care...she may one day gift you with a McDonald's ice cream cone.

Anonymous said...

At least she took the effort and energy to look at you and to see how you were doing, which apparently wasn't well.

Anonymous said...

Boy do I wish I were her daughter....

Anonymous said...

The shopping carts at my old retail place maxed out at about 2 mph =(. Driving them back to the front of the store wasn't nearly as fun as it looked.

Anonymous said...

That kind of volume and yap can offset any potential for appreciation of their nice comments. I can't handle the yellers. EVER.

Unknown said...

"She cackles like a Shakespearean witch"

That's hilarious. Really lets you visualize her evilness.