Root Beer Rudeness...

Have you ever gone to a store and been waited on by a rude clerk?  Have you ever wondered how in the world they keep their job?  I've worked as a clerk in the past and I am positive that if I had been as rude as some clerks have been to me, I would have been fired or at least reprimanded by the manager...

For my blog today, I thought I'd share some instances of exceptional rudeness...Warning: Some of these instances of Rude Customer Service were actually fun and I wish I could get away with them, but as I said earlier, I know that I WOULD get into trouble...

Dialog between myself and a clerk at a snack bar at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris...I had been abroad for 5 weeks, I was VERY homesick, and I wanted a Root Beer...Little known fact: It is next to impossible to find Root Beer in Europe...I thought they might have some in the airport (silly me)...I knew the French could get rude, but this was a beautifully artistic form of rudeness that I thoroughly enjoyed (both at the time and in retrospect)... This Dialog was originally in French, but (because I'm feeling generous and I want you to keep reading), I'll translate it into English:

Me: Do you have any Root Beer please? 

Clerk: (Said loudly and in a tone of vehement disgust) No, we do not have Root Beer here.  Root Beer is terrible...It is a horrible American Drink like Doctor Pepper.  It is disgusting!  You are in France now and you should learn how to enjoy good drinks.  I will give you a Coke instead and you will drink it and enjoy it and you will stop asking for terrible drinks like Root Beer!  

Me: Thanks? 

Recently, I went to the mall to buy a cover for my cell phone.  My service provider's store didn't have the cover I needed, so they directed me (unofficially, of course) to a kiosk that sold what I was searching for.  There was a clerk sitting behind the counter looking at a magazine.  I saw some covers that looked like they'd fit my cell phone...that's when the games began...

Me: How much are these covers? 

Clerk: (without looking up) Ten dollars.  

Me: Okay... (I looked for a moment or so and said)...Um, sir?  I think I've found one I want...

(This part wasn't rude...He got up, walked over to where I was and pointed out that I was looking at the covers for the wrong phone...When he showed me the right ones, he went back to his magazine, sat down, and began to read... It took me two seconds to find the one I wanted...Normally I might leave and buy somewhere else, but by now I think I was intrigued...)

Me: Uh, sir...I've found the one I wanted...

Clerk: Just a second ... (He continued to read his magazine for a few more seconds before standing up and walking over to me)...Are you sure you found the one you wanted?  

(I was almost tempted to say no to see if he would go back to his magazine, but I had to get back to work because my lunch hour was almost over...) 

Okay, this really happened...A clerk was standing behind the Register, glared at a customer walking past the register...ten feet away...no where near the clerk...I think the clerk needed a nap...

Clerk: THIS REGISTER IS CLOSED! 

Customer: (Startled) FINE!  

I was traumatized after I saw this happen...really...

Okay, I've talked about rudeness, but now I'd like to spotlight one instance of unbelievable politeness and kindness that I experienced once in London...I was at Heath Row and I was at a booth trying to exchange Dollars for British Pounds... The phone rang and the clerk asked, "Would you mind if I answered the phone?"

I had never been asked that by a clerk before.  In the US, clerks answer the phone and if you have a problem with that, its just too bad...I didn't even know how to respond at first, but I stammered, "Yeah, sure...Please...go ahead..."  

It was a little thing, but it made a big impression...