Flower Power

(I am at home in bed, having had a rough week that included my grandmother passing away, as well as her wake and funeral. To make things easier on me, my boyfriend wakes up early to do our grocery shopping. He grabs a bouquet of my favorite flowers to cheer me up.)

Teenage Cashier: *laughing* “Uh oh! Looks like someone’s in trouble! What’d you do?”

Boyfriend: “No, it’s nothing like that.”

Teenage Cashier: “Aw, come on, man! It can’t be that bad!”

Boyfriend: “Actually, my girlfriend’s grandmother passed away. She had a hard weekend so I wanted to cheer her up.”

Teenage Cashier: *speechless* “I… Uh. I am so… Oh, my god.”

(The cashier turns around and calls a manager over.)

Teenage Cashier: *whispering to manager* “I need you to take these flowers off. We need to comp them.”

Manager: “But—”

Boyfriend: “It’s really okay…”

Teenage Cashier: “We just need to.”

(The manager takes the flowers off my boyfriend’s bill and leaves. The young cashier finishes the rest of the transaction solemnly.)

Teenage Cashier: “Really, I am SO sorry.”

Boyfriend: “Thank you, but no apology necessary. It’s really fine.”

(He told me all about it when he got home, and I got a good laugh about it. I think the worst part is, now the cashier will be too scared to ever tell that joke again!)