Face The Cold Reality Of The Non-Purchaser  

(There is a town festival event where lots of local vendors set up stalls for charity. There are fairground rides and a local celebrity is due to arrive at six pm — after our store is closed. It is winter and about -4 degrees Celsius, so customers have started crowding around the front of our store where our heating blasts out, blocking the entryway and not buying anything. We make almost no money because of the crowd huddled in our entryway to take advantage of our heating but not coming inside. Closing time comes around.)

Me: “Sorry, guys! You need to move forward so I can close the door. We’re closing for the night.”

Random Man: “But the celebrity is due any minute!”

Me: “Sir, you need to move outside of the store so I can close the door.”

Random Man: “Can’t you just keep them open? It’s so cold outside. I don’t want to buy anything; I just want to stay warm.”

(Convincing as his argument was, I wasn’t going to stay open for a customer that deliberately told me he wasn’t going to buy anything.)