A Very Testing Tester

I’m at the local grocery store waiting in line for checkout and there’s one customer before me. The cashier is ringing her stuff and stops, holding a body lotion jar, and talks to the customer.

Cashier: “Excuse me, did you notice this is the tester product?”

Customer: *With an accent and very unclearly* “What? What do you mean?”

Cashier: “This is the tester. Do you want to go and get a correct jar?”

Customer: “What? I don’t understand?”

Cashier: “Here on the jar, it says this is a tester. You can’t buy it.”

Customer: *Louder but not any clearer* “What? Why? I don’t understand.”

The cashier is starting to get red and nervous but tries to stay calm and friendly.

Cashier: “This tester is for anyone to open and look; you can not buy it.”

Customer: *Loudly* “Why would you have something like that on your shelf?! Why can’t I just buy it?”

Cashier: “You can go and get an unopened jar right there and buy it.”

The customer finally left to get a jar that was for sale and mumbled all the way about how stupid it was that she couldn’t buy the jar that she wanted. She came back and started ranting about it. I couldn’t understand half of it and neither could the cashier.

The customer paid and bagged her things while still continuing to rant. The cashier had been friendly and smiling all the time, though she seemed to be very uncomfortable. This is where I stepped in and started talking to the cashier, although the angry customer was still complaining while bagging. The cashier looked relieved and ignored the angry customer and started ringing my stuff. When the angry customer finally left, the cashier just nodded her head and smiled at me.