Cents-lessly Overreacting

I work in a grocery store’s gas station. We have a deal where if you spend $35, not including tax or deposits, you get one five-cents-off-per-litre deal attached to your loyalty card. The program resets every three months and any discounts you have on your card at the time are wiped off, and you have to buy another $35 to get it again.

A woman pulls up in a sedan and pumps $10 of gas — ONLY $10. She comes in to pay and tries to use her loyalty card and it doesn’t work, so we explain how the program works to her.

She starts screaming, actually SCREAMING, in my face about how we’re [ableist slur]s for resetting it on that day, and that she’s gonna make sure we lose our jobs, and that we will never be able to work in this city again, etc.

Now, as she’s screaming profanity at my face, I’m doing some mental math. I’ve figured out that her discount would be about thirty-nine cents. She is literally threatening my livelihood, safety, wellbeing, health, and job… over thirty-nine cents.

While she’s still yelling, I actually reach into my pocket and grab a dollar, throw it up onto the counter, and say:

Me: “THERE ARE TWO DISCOUNTS FOR YOU! GET THE H*** OUT!”

I guess when she saw how minuscule her savings were, she became embarrassed, because she went quiet and beet red. She then turned around and saw the line of people that had been building up behind her (at least four people), saw the disapproving looks on their faces, and left.

The next four people were VERY kind to me, which made me feel better.