Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 26

I work in a home improvement store. I have just finished helping an older man pick out supplies for a few projects.

Me: “Okay, sir, you should be all set. You can head up to the front and pay at the registers.”

Can you guess what I said wrong there?

If you guessed that I said, “Can head up to the front,” instead of, “Have to head up to the front,” then you’ve correctly guessed the logic this man tried to use when he was caught pushing his cart toward the door without paying.

He did eventually follow my poor confused coworker to the register and paid, but he maintained a constant mix of shouting and grumbling the entire time, acting like the fact that he would have to pay for his purchases was some conspiracy that I had suckered him into with false pretenses, rather than a fact of retail most people pick up on by the time they’re eight or so.

I remained blissfully unaware of all of this until my coworker complained to me about it during our next break and her description of the man stirred my memory. I confirmed that, while I likely did say “can” instead of “have to” as the man claimed, I certainly hadn’t done anything to actually encourage the idea that payment was optional.

Related:
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 25
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 24
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 23
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 22
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 21