Monday 27 October 2014

SHORTS: Bad Temper


The old couple were second in the supermarket queue. It wasn’t a long queue and the young man at the till moved items across his scanner with admirable skill and dexterity. Watching him, she idly listened to the chat between him and the customer ahead of her; they were smiling and obviously in good spirits.

Then it was the old couple’s turn.

“Hello there, how are you today?”
“Not particularly happy, I hate shopping,” the woman said, filling her bags.
“I’m with you there, I don’t like it either,” the cashier replied.
The woman laughed. “How refreshing to hear you say that,” she said.
They giggled; the man looked on grumpily.

Shopper and cashier continued their good-natured banter until the trolley was emptied, the bags packed, the bill paid and a receipt handed over.

As she turned to leave, she said to the still smiling cashier, “Thank you very much, it’s been a pleasure.”
“Not at all,” he said, “glad to be of help. Might as well make the best of a tedious job. See you soon.”

As the couple left I heard the old man say: “ I wonder what HE was ON.”

Grumpy old git.



33 comments:

  1. Hahahaha! That was a fun slice of life. Nobody could be all that upbeat and not on something, I guess. I loved this, Friko. I'm still smiling. :-)

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  2. How funny. Sure made me giggle on a Monday morning. Some people are never happy.

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  3. I was in a similar line at the drugstore. You are the best, Friko. Love these little vignettes.

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  4. Guess nobody likes's a *pollyanna*... nor a "grumpy gus" (although I think the former enjoys life more).
    I really like the way you pay attention to people around you, Friko. I tend to tune it all out (I think people talking on their cell phones has done this to me).

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  5. Hi Friko - probably good old home-made food with some positive sauce smothered across ready for the grumpy guses, or gillies ... lovely snippet of village life ... cheers and have a good week - Hilary

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  6. good one. I was counting out my change one day to pay for something and the woman waiting next was obviously impatient and the cashier was affected by her. I told her to relax, no one's life would be changed by a minute or two delay. She begged to differ in her self important opinion. I walked away with good blood pressure. The woman walked away with high blood pressure.

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  7. Friko, isn't git a great word. Sounds like what it is. And you do know a git when you see or hear one.

    (As you know, I am familiar with the world or retain and have encountered some gits along the way. If I have the energy, I sometimes try to encourage them to remember what it's like to smile. Not always successful, but it does make the time pass.)

    xo

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  8. Takes all kinds, I suppose. David is always Mr. Charming. He knows the names of every clerk in the store, including a large African-American woman who calls him Sugar, and helps him fill his cart using my list. I on the other hand am only recently beginning to be more open to new encounters. It's not easy.

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  9. probably pot. hear that's popular.

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  10. Some people don't get it! They don't know when they've been treated properly.

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  11. Give me a Polyanna every time. She must have been very tempted to leave 'Grumpy Drawers' at home on the next shop.

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  12. Git home, grumpy old git!

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  13. Such a great little snippet! Poor woman who had to go home with that old grump.

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  14. I love your well written vignettes.


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

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  15. Some people are just determined to be stay in a bad mood.
    Whatever the clerk was on (probably something as subversive as just the joy of living) Old Grumpy could have used some.

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  16. While he waits in line, Favorite Young Man sometimes tells complaining shoppers to be quiet. They obey.

    Love,
    Janie

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  17. ha. i dont like shopping either...
    particularly grocery shopping...i can never find
    anything...and end up hugging myself in the corner...

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  18. What's his problem? I LOVE grocery shopping! (Now, clothes shopping ... that's another matter.)

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  19. Being friendly and engaging others in conversation is a great way to pass the time.. Being grumpy Is not.

    Nice post.

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  20. O, let grumpy be grumpy if he want's to ... wonder though, if the cashier would have been a pretty girl ... hmmm ??? ... :) ...

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  21. Oh, that's good! Isn't it funny: I have been each of the three characters at different times.
    I do enjoy shopping where the employees act as if they're happy to be there. I don't much care if they're on something, so long as they're pleasant and capable! :-)

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  22. Grumpy could have used a dose of the happiness this young clerk was passing out. We have several shopping clerks in our area that are so sweet and even call you by name - that's the store that I want to continue shopping at....where everybody knows my name. (pun intended)

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  23. One reason I prefer the small, independent grocery across the lake rather than the large chain store two blocks away is precisely for their customer service and recognizably human employees. I try to return the favor. Commenting on a clerk's pretty blouse, or looking a young man in the eye and smilling generally evokes a good -- and real -- response. And if not? I'd rather be happy and rejected than a grumpy old git. (Had to look that one up. I only knew it as part of phrases like, "Git along, little doggies...")

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  24. LOL.

    Some people aren't happy unless they're miserable.

    Pearl

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  25. Yes, some folks can never believe that being happy is perfectly normal state of mind.

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  26. Ha! There is nothing better than a chatty cashier (when one feels like chatting, which for me is most of the time.) Makes the line so much better. Good for him!

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  27. A brightened day for two people. Just not bright enough to burn through his fog. Hopefully that was just a bad day for him. Fun to eavesdrop through you. :)

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  28. I was always like that chatty clerk. Some people are really hard to get them to smile, though. ;)

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  29. It's those awful self-service tills in supermarkets that make me grumpy. I much prefer to have a chat with a real person.

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  30. Aaah, memories. I had similar conversations with women and their silly-old-git husbands.

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  31. Such acute observation! It brightened my day too.

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  32. I guess he wanted some of what the clerk had.

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