Bready And Not-Waiting

(Monday through Saturday we close at 5:00 pm. It’s 5:30 on a Friday night when a call comes in.)

Me: *in my usual, higher-pitch polite voice* [Bakery], this is [My Name]. How may I help you?”

Customer: “I’d like to place an order for take-out.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we are closed for the night—”

Customer: *in a very frustrated tone* “MA’AM. MA’AM! I DID NOT FINISH MY SENTENCE, MA’AM! CAN YOU LET ME FINISH?!”

Me: “Oh, yes, I’m so sorry. Let me grab a pencil and a piece of paper to write down your order.”

Customer: “I would like to place a take-out order for tomorrow. I want four pizzas: two pepperoni and two sausage.”

(I work at a bakery where we sell BREAD. We do not make pizza. So, I lean toward my coworker who works more often than I do.)

Me: “[Coworker], do we make pizza?”

Coworker: “No?”

(I put the phone back up to my ear.)

Me: *still being as polite as possible, as my boss is ten feet away* “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but we don’t make pizza here.”

Customer: “MA’AM! MA’AM! MA’AM—”

Me: *getting very annoyed, but still keeping calm* “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I can’t sell something to you that we don’t make—”

(And then she hung up.)