Ugh!

If you're going to be stupid, just be stupid. Do not try to force upon me your twisted logic. You make no sense, none! So do not be surprised when I disagree. And if for some reason I do start to agree with you, you have not won. Simply, i am trying to get you out of the store. you have sufficiently annoyed me enough that I no longer will even attempt to be polite with you.

"Wow! I never thought about that... I guess youre right." This is what I will tell you when you are undoubtibly wrong. If you hear these words spoken from my mouth, I do not agree with you, I am trying to inflate your ego enough that you will puff your chest up high and parade out of the store. This works, and I will not refrain from using it at any time, assuming that I feel it is the only method to get you to shut your pie-hole and leave.

Phew!

Glad I could get that off my chest.

Now I guess you would care for an explaination?

It would be an honour.

You see, I had a lady come in today. She had a wide grin on her face when she walked in the store. I figured she would be a pleasant customer. Smiling is usually neither a signal of stupidity nor intelligence. But at least the transaction will be pleasant.

Boy, was I wrong.

Almost immediately upon it being her turn to be served at the till she began a very vocal argument with myself about the injustice of our '2 nestle chocolate bars for $1.78+tax' deal. At first I thought she was going to complain about how expensive chocolate bars were in our store (as per the usual 'complaining about chocolate bars' customers would do), and I immediately went into 'this is a gas station and as such we are unable to sell chocolate bars for as cheap as other places' mode. But I was caught off guard when her argument turned the other way.

She was insulted that she should have to purchase two chocolaate bars in order to get a lower price.

I was baffled.

She began explaining her side of things. That we were descriminating against people who were watching their weight. They had to purchase two chocolate bars in order to save money. But if they bought two chocolate bars they would have to eat two chocolate bars. And by eating two chocolate bars they would consume the calories contained in two chocolate bars (I kid you not, she probibly said 'two chocolate bars' a good half dozen times in the first paragraph of her argument)

At this point I am even more baffled. After talking with a friend of mine who has been put on a very strict diet for medical reasons, I have become aware of all the contents of many of the foods I eat in my daily life. I can now assure you (the reader) that if you are watching your weight YOU SHOULD NOT BE EATING CHOCOLATE BARS IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Save your $1.78 and buy something that doesnt contain the calorie intake of a small African country and buy something that has any level of nutritional benefit. Cuz I assure you, you are not getting what you need from chocolate bars.

Now she obviously saw the look I was giving her (it was a cross between a 'are you serious?' and a 'how far could she run before the nutty farm gets here') and decided to change her argument. It switched from 'your store hates fat people' to 'does your store hate poor people?'

At this point I seriously thought I was going to throw up from the sheer stupidity.

I nodded at her to continue, cuz quite frankly I wanted her to explain to me why saving money on chocolate bars is discrimination for poor people.

Her argument is that a person that is poor enough could not afford the extra $.75 (tax included one chocolate bar is $1.17 and two i s $1.92). By having the 'buy two at a discounted price' we were forcing the really poor people to have to buy chocolate bars at an 'artifically high price'.

BGWAH?!?!?!?!?!

I'm really sorry. But that is so illogical. Besides, what are people this poor doing in the first place? Shouldn't the be buying milk? or bread? or waiting in line at the food bank?

Okay that last one was uncalled for.

But really now. I can assure you that being that we are in Surrey, the Alabama of Canada, we have some of the poorest people comming into our store.

These are the types of people that will buy a half litre of 2% milk, eat the $.05 candies that children have let fall on the floor, and buy $15 worth of scratch tickets and 6/49.

They've made their decision's and it appears that chocolate bars were not really on the top of their list.

Anyways, back to the story. This lady was going on and on. She was almost to the point of yelling about all the injustices about having to buy two chocolate bars in order to save money.

After about 4 mins or so, I finally said to her, 'you know, I think you have a point'

She had a kind of glint in her eyes when I said that and she added 'a person as fat as me shouldn't be buying two chocolate bars, you know?'

I nodded and said 'yeah I guess you're right'

This really offended her. I had to bite my toungue in order to keep from laughing at what i had just (unintentionally) said while she got herself into one big ol' huff about me calling her fat and blah blah blah.

She left the store (thankfully).

I was left to explain to my coworker (a new staff member working her first evening shift) how you need to know when to pick your battles with customers.