(I work in a three-level retail store, on the bottom floor. Access to the connected mall is only on the second and third floors. It’s a pretty big place, and sometimes customers get confused as to where to go or how to leave. One day a customer comes running up to my cash, pushing next to a customer I’m ringing in.)
Customer: “Come on. I want to leave!”
Me: “Um…”
Customer: “I want to go! I want to leave!”
Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am. Did you need help with something?”
Customer: “I want to go. I’m in a hurry! I want to get out!”
(The customer is near screaming now, and she looks ready to snap.)
Me: “You want to leave the store?”
Customer: “Yes! How do I get out? I want to leave right now. I’m in a hurry!”
(I point at the two sets of large glass doors no more than twenty feet away, with the sun shining through them.)
Me: “Uh. The exit’s just right there, ma’am.”
Customer: “Where?!”
Me: “Right down there, ma’am. At the end of the aisle.”
(The customer runs down the aisle, looking as if someone is about to grab her and chain her to a fixture, and bursts out of the doors.)
Me: “…I guess when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.”
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