Are You A Manager Or Are You A Mouse?

(I am a cashier at a fairly popular grocery store. I also happen to make my own yogurt and cheese on occasion. A man comes through my line with his two daughters.)

Little Girl: “Why does Swiss cheese have holes?”

Man: “Oh, a little mouse eats its way through the cheese to make those.”

Me: *reflexively* “Ick! That would be terribly unhygienic! I’m pretty sure the bubbles form while the cheese is setting due to the special bacteria used in making Swiss cheese.”

(The little girl seems to consider this, though I’m sure she doesn’t quite understand the cheese-making process. The man pays and leaves without another word. Several days later, one of the store managers pulls me aside.)

Manager: “I got a call complaining about you today.”

Me: “What?”

Manager: “A man says you told his daughter the holes in Swiss cheese are because of bacteria, after he told her it was a cute little mouse.”

Me: “Yeah, I remember that. It isn’t a mouse.”

Manager: “I know that, but you know how it is with kids.”

Me: “I guess I don’t?”

Manager: “We tell them little stories.”

Me: “…”

Manager: “He says you ruined her childhood.”

Me: “I’m not apologizing for telling the truth to a little girl.”

Manager: “You contradicted her father in front of him. You have to be careful about things like this.”

Me: “I’m not apologizing for telling the truth! Especially because the lie was gross! A mouse crawling all over our cheese? Come on!”

Manager: “I know, but kids like mice. They’re cute.”

Me: *sigh* “Are you writing me up for this?”

Manager: “No, but I need to make sure you’ll ease up on what you tell kids.”

Me: “I’ll stick to letting them know that Santa isn’t real.”

Manager: *laughs* “You wouldn’t do that.”

Me: “Next time someone says I ruined a childhood, I’d like it to actually be true.”

Manager: “Well, next time, I’m definitely writing you up.”

(I quit that job as soon as I could. Stupid customers are bad enough without having management take their side.)