I have a little story to tell you...a story that made me realize I really don't like to be wrong (I mean, I rarely am, so, you know...)...or, more so, I don't like to be thought of as being wrong when I really know I'm right. Here's the story:
I stopped at Subway to grab a bite to eat after a hospital shift. I had a small, random Visa gift card balance that I had found after going through my purse and so, at checkout, I asked the cashier if I could use it. She affirmed that I could, if I knew the balance (I did) and so, she ran the card...then whipped out a handy little calculator and proceeded to tell me I owed her an additional $2.75.
All I had was a 10 dollar bill, so I handed it over, she sighed a little, thoughtfully grabbed me my 7 dollars then reached for the change dispenser thingamajig and started to disassemble it.
"Oh gosh", I interrupted, "Would it just be easier if I gave you the change?"
"Um. Yeah...kinda."
So, I started scrounging up 75 cents. Then she got me all confused and said, "Oh no, it was only a quarter."
"Oh, I thought you said .75..." so I put the rest of the change away and handed her a quarter. She plopped it in the till, slammed it shut and said, "Thank you!".
"Erm...but...um...aren't you supposed to give me a dollar back now?" I said.
She, looking totally confused, "Um. No."
"Well, see I gave you a ten, and then another quarter...I should get a dollar back."
"Um. No."
By this time there was a nice man waiting behind me, so I said, "Well, I'm confused, because I should have gotten a money back, but it's just a dollar, so no big deal."
So I leave. Running this over and over in my mind, thinking I should have said something like, "Okay, see...YOU were going to give me money back...and then I gave you MORE money...and you didn't give me ANY money back after that." And I kept reminding myself, "it's only a dollar...it's only a dollar"...when it dawned on me what I was truly upset about: She THOUGHT I WAS WRONG. I was having internal turmoil, not because I paid more for my sub than I should have, but BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT I WAS WRONG. I mean, AS IF.
Me? Wrong? Why I NEVER...
(Gah. She THOUGHT I WAS WRONG!!!!)
I stopped at Subway to grab a bite to eat after a hospital shift. I had a small, random Visa gift card balance that I had found after going through my purse and so, at checkout, I asked the cashier if I could use it. She affirmed that I could, if I knew the balance (I did) and so, she ran the card...then whipped out a handy little calculator and proceeded to tell me I owed her an additional $2.75.
All I had was a 10 dollar bill, so I handed it over, she sighed a little, thoughtfully grabbed me my 7 dollars then reached for the change dispenser thingamajig and started to disassemble it.
"Oh gosh", I interrupted, "Would it just be easier if I gave you the change?"
"Um. Yeah...kinda."
So, I started scrounging up 75 cents. Then she got me all confused and said, "Oh no, it was only a quarter."
"Oh, I thought you said .75..." so I put the rest of the change away and handed her a quarter. She plopped it in the till, slammed it shut and said, "Thank you!".
"Erm...but...um...aren't you supposed to give me a dollar back now?" I said.
She, looking totally confused, "Um. No."
"Well, see I gave you a ten, and then another quarter...I should get a dollar back."
"Um. No."
By this time there was a nice man waiting behind me, so I said, "Well, I'm confused, because I should have gotten a money back, but it's just a dollar, so no big deal."
So I leave. Running this over and over in my mind, thinking I should have said something like, "Okay, see...YOU were going to give me money back...and then I gave you MORE money...and you didn't give me ANY money back after that." And I kept reminding myself, "it's only a dollar...it's only a dollar"...when it dawned on me what I was truly upset about: She THOUGHT I WAS WRONG. I was having internal turmoil, not because I paid more for my sub than I should have, but BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT I WAS WRONG. I mean, AS IF.
Me? Wrong? Why I NEVER...
(Gah. She THOUGHT I WAS WRONG!!!!)
Argh! I can. not. STAND that "kids these days" don't know how to count change! What the heck are they teaching in math classes now?!?!
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest pet peeves! Unlike your calm and cool way of handling this, I just might have dug my heels in and given her a math lesson right then and there....
ReplyDeleteYou should have gotten $7.25 back from your $10...not sure why she thought you owed her more. It's very frustrating when people are MORE wrong than you but can sell it better to make you feel like you are the wrong one. And what happened to the phrase: "the customer is always right."??? ~Abby
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