God bless the cashiers

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work today. After collecting a few needed items, I stepped up to one of the checkout lanes where there appeared to be no wait. Alas, a customer had ventured back to one of the aisles to hunt down what they’d forgotten.

No big deal, I could spare a few moments. Especially because lying next to the cash register was a box of Fat-Free Nabisco Crackers. I had to know why it was sitting there unscanned. I got my answer when the cashier said into his phone, “She’s wanting to know if she can get the Nabisco crackers instead of Keebler. She can’t? Okay, I’ll tell her.”

It turns out the store had a special sale on Keebler crackers. But it seems Keebler either doesn’t produce a fat-free cracker or else doesn’t have a fat-free version this customer liked. So she assumed she could substitute another manufacturer’s fat-free cracker for the sale price.

Sort of like if you went to a car lot where Honda vehicles were discounted. But you didn’t like any of the Hondas. So you picked out a Porsche and assumed you’d get it at the Honda price. (Maybe not a perfect analogy, but you get the idea.)

Well, let me tell you, she did not like what she heard. She let the cashier and everyone around her know about it, too. We all looked at her like she was an alien, which she may well have been. Even her husband stood about 10 feet away and acted like he didn’t know her. (Only when he joined her as they walked out could one know they were acquainted.)

I’m not sure what the point of the story is. Maybe it’s just to suggest we don’t check our manners at the door when we enter a store, restaurant or other place of business. Just because we’re gracing the premises with money doesn’t mean we’re allowed to do or say whatever we like. You know, the whole “Do unto others…” thing. A dose of the Golden Rule sure would’ve made that cashier’s day go a whole lot smoother.