Phoned Then Owned

(I work in the deli department of my local supermarket, and am calling out the numbers of the tickets.)

Me: “Number 24? Does anybody have ticket number 24? Anybody at all?”

(At this point, I think someone might have grabbed two tickets by accident off the ticket dispenser and decide to skip ahead to the next number.)

Me: “Oh well, then… number 25?”

(The customer with ticket 25 starts ordering what she wants, when suddenly the customer with ticket 24 storms over. She has clearly been on the phone.)

Customer #24: *huffed voice* “Excuse me? I was before this lady. I was number 24!”

Me: “Just one second, ma’am. I’ll serve you after this customer.”

(Customer #25 smiles shyly at me.)

Customer #24: “Well, I was before this lady!” *puts a rude smirk when referring to her* “Clearly, because I was number 24!”

Me: “Well, I was calling your number for a good while before I started serving this lady. You weren’t even at the deli counter.”

Customer #24: “I WAS STILL FIRST!”

Me: “Ma’am, if you just let me serve this customer quickly, I’ll get to you in just a—”

(Suddenly, Customer #25 decides they’ve had enough of Customer #24 and speaks up in my defense.)

Customer #25: “Well, how the bloody h*** is he supposed to know he’s skipped someone when nobody answers his calls?! How’s he supposed to know you’re off in another aisle on the phone? You know it’s people like you that make his day so much worse!”

Customer #24: *stomps off*