He’s Just Blowing Hot Air

(I work the till at a marine supply store that sells almost everything a boater could ask for. We get a lot of regular customers that many of my coworkers and I know by name. It’s late in the day, so it’s a little slow, and it’s just me and two other coworkers at the registers. A customer I’ve never seen before comes over to my coworker’s register with about $300 worth of product. She begins to ring him out and while he waits, he walks over and picks up a can of electronics duster — compressed air. He proceeds to spray the can of air into his hand for a good, long spritz and then places it back on the shelf.)

Me: “Um, sir, I think you need to pay for that since you just used it.”

(Both my coworkers simultaneously agree with me.)

Customer: “Oh, I was just checking the air pressure. Don’t worry about it.”

Me: “Okay, but you could have asked us about that, instead of spraying a good amount of the can into your hand. We can’t sell that now that you’ve used up a good bit of it.”

Customer: *irritated* “Like you would know what the air pressure would be like when I sprayed it.”

Me: “No, but we have our own cans. You could have asked us first before you wasted one that we can no longer sell. You really should pay for that since you used up a decent amount of it.”

Customer: *irritated and acting like he owns us because he’s spending lots of money* “I’ve been shopping here for twenty years; besides, I’m buying a few hundred dollars’ worth of your stuff. I can just leave here and not buy any of it!”

Me: “Okay, then you should be able to afford that $8 can of air you just wasted!”

(The customer begins to turn red and looks about like he’s ready to explode. My manager, after overhearing the entire conversation, quickly interjects by taking the can of air from the guy.)

Manager: *while walking away* “I’ll take care of this; just get him rung up.”

(The customer stands there, red-faced and angry, while my coworker finishes up his order. All the while, my other coworker and I glare at him. He notices my coworker giving him her best and scariest glare and quickly puts his head down for the remainder of his transaction. Once he’s been rung out, he quickly and quietly leaves.)

Coworker #2: “That guy was such a narcissistic a**hole.”

Coworker #1: “Yeah, he said he’d been shopping here for 20 years, but I’ve never seen him before and he didn’t even have an account with us.”