Inde-fence-ible Behavior
(I am a customer at an outlet shoe store in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. We often get French Canadians who come to New Hampshire for vacations and buy things here to avoid the high taxes they pay in Canada. Most of them speak perfectly fine English, but some of them, particularly some of the older people, can have some trouble. I speak French fluently, so I’m helping an elderly couple who is having trouble translating the sales signs.)
Me: *in French* “It says that if you buy one pair of shoes, you get the second pair half-off.”
Elderly Customer: *in French* “Thank you. My English is not good, and some things just don’t translate well—”
Other Customer: “Don’t do that!”
Me: “Excuse me?”
Other Customer: “Don’t pander to them! If they want to live in this country, they should learn to speak English!”
Me: “I think they are just visiting.”
Other Customer: “Bulls***! Once they get into our country, they never leave! That’s why we need a fence.” *turns to the elderly couple* “Go back to Mexico!”
Me: “They’re Canadian.”
Other Customer: “Don’t lie to me. I heard you speaking Spanish!”
Me: “That was French. Canada is bilingual. Plenty of people in Canada speak French as their first language.”
Other Customer: “We need a fence!”
Me: “They are from Canada!”
Other Customer: “We need TWO fences!”
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
