Black Friday Cashiers Required! Must Have Computing Degrees

(It is around Black Friday and we are packed. All of a sudden, all of our registers go down. I immediately get on the phone, which is at the registers, to call the help desk. Customers are generally understanding, but there is always that one. A customer comes up and starts screaming at me:)

Customer: “Why the h*** don’t you do something ? Don’t just stand there… Fix this!”

Me: “I am doing something. I am on line to the help desk.”

Customer: “Just let me pay cash and I will go. I am busy today.”

(All this time, I am trying to hear the person on the phone and follow his instructions. All the noise in the store makes it hard, and I am NOT good with computers.)

Me: “I am sorry, sir, they usually get things fixed in a few minutes, and I am sorry, but this rarely happens. The help desk is working on it.”

(I try to stay calm and smile.)

Customer: *still screaming at me* “You mean this has happened before? Why didn’t you fix the computers before you opened the d*** store?”

(Very shortly after, the registers were rebooted and we rushed to check everyone out. I think it took a total of ten minutes. The “screamer” left the store right before the registers came back online. All the others were annoyed but understanding, and we thanked them for waiting. Never will understand why customers think we have an IT person waiting to fix glitches. We keep one in the closet, for emergencies.)