Unfiltered Story #223027

I work in the lumber department of a big box home improvement store, and there is one other lumber associate at the time helping other customers. A lady that looks in her 60s comes and is asking me for items to make shelves. She is really demanding, clueless, cheap, and indecisive and I take her all around the department to explain the difference between using plywood, 2-inch and 1-inch wood, or pre-cut shelves. I am in the 1-inch aisle trying to get her to understand the difference between pine priced per piece and hardwood priced per foot, when a regular customer (a man in his 50s) that has been waiting patiently for a couple minutes cuts in.

Man: “I have a quick question, where is [type of product for which there is two types]?”

Me: “I can answer quickly, but first which type… ”

Woman (rudely to Man): “Excuse, me but he was with me first. You’re really rude for interrupting us before we are done.

Man: “I’m really rude? You’re the one who is rude! I just have a quick question and then he can go back with you since you’ve been hogging him.”

– Both customers look at me basically to see who I side with and I stand speechless for a minute

Woman: “Well where I come from it is rude to cut in on customer until they are done with the salesperson.”

Man (now shouting): Listen lady, you’re the one who is rude, any decent person would let him answer a simple question first and then go back to you”

– At this point they are both standing tall and I swear they are about to come to blows. To cut the tension, I speak up:

Me: (to man) “I was with this this lady first. There is someone on the back saw, he can help you when he is done with his customer or I will help you when I am done with this customer, whoever is done first.

Man: (obviously annoyed with the lady not me): “Fine, whatever” and walks away

Woman: “Thank you. That man was really rude, wouldn’t you agree?”

– It wanted to say that both of them were rude, but I ignored the question and I spend another 10 min with the lady to help her decide and finally get some hardwood laminated plywood and take it to the panel saw to cut. While cutting, I see the man pass by and I politely say I will be with him shortly. Both customers eye each other with evil eyes. The lady repeatedly makes snide remarks about the man to me but intentionally loud enough for the man to hear as he walks away. I finish cutting for the lady and have 1/2 the board left in large scraps left over from cutting out the shelves to size.

Me: “Do you want the left over pieces.”

Lady: “What do you do with scraps if I don’t want them?”

Me: “We usually keep on a cart and offer to customers free if they want them. Since you are paying for the whole piece, we can’t resell them, and if there are leftovers at the end of the day, we throw them away.

Lady: “Ok, you can give them away to anyone… except that rude man.”

The lady takes her cart and walks away but the register is in sight of the saw. The man comes to the saw with some OSB (cheaper than plywood than the lady got) and has apparently answered his own question from earlier.

Man: “Man that b**** was crazy. Anyway, I need this cut to [about the same size as the scraps from the lady]. Actually, what are those scraps, can I have them?

Me (not knowing how to say this tactfully and at the same time not laugh): “Um, actually they are from that lady and normally we give the scraps away, but, umm… she specifically said not to give them to you. However, I’ll wait until she leaves the store and then I will give them to you.”

Man: “That’s Ok, I wouldn’t even want anything from that crazy b*** anyway. Just cut it out of the boards I grabbed”

I cut for him and he leaves his scraps and now I have a whole board worth of scraps that I end up throwing out at the end of the day (it’s actually sad how much stuff we end up throwing away each day)