Looks Ready To Checkout Early

(I am asked to train the new guy to use the register. I am told that he has been present for a few hours already, which leads me to assume he has already gotten some practice, especially since he is already sitting at one of the registers with another coworker standing behind him. Since I work at a location of our store that is generally hard to reach and where business is generally slow, I decide to immediately give him a shot at showing me what he has learned so far. I stand behind him to keep an eye on what is going on so I can step in whenever he needs help. Soon enough, the first customer approaches.)

New Guy: “Uhm… so, what do I do?”

Customer: “Oh, that’s just great!”

Me: *slightly surprised* “Oh, it’s all right. It’s easy; just scan all the items like this…”

Customer: “Are you serious? Just f****** do beep beep already and get it done with.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, I promise you this won’t take any longer than usual –”

Customer: “Why can’t you just do this yourself?! He’s obviously too stupid to do it.”

(I’m getting irritated by the customer’s unnecessary rudeness, which is actually just causing him to have to wait longer.)

Me: “Everybody’s got to learn how to do their job somehow. How do you expect him to do that if he’s not even allowed to try?”

Customer: “What’s wrong with companies nowadays, hiring all these dumb children?! DO YOU EXPECT ME TO PAY HIS COLLEGE TUITION ALSO?!”

(By now, the new guy is starting to look really upset, so I tell him to switch back and ask him to just watch how I do it. The customer continues to rant about how he earned this and that in life and how he has his own business, that time is money, and that everyone seems to be wasting his time constantly.)

Me: “That’s good for you, sir, but everyone has to start somewhere. Here’s the receipt. Have a nice day!”

(The customer grabs his stuff without replying and storms off.)

Me: *to the new guy* “I’m so sorry about that. I must have misjudged the situation! I thought you had gotten some experience earlier, but it seems you didn’t. So in that case, I’ll let you watch me do it for about half an hour before you try again yourself. Don’t worry, customers this bad rarely show up here.”

Next Customer In Line: *while I’m processing their purchase and grinning* “Oh, actually, I come here very often and the people in line before me are mostly this rude.”

Next Customer In Line’s Wife: *also smiling* “Oh, don’t scare the boy like that!” *to the new guy* “I didn’t really understand what that man got so upset about, but you definitely didn’t deserve such a bad start. You’ll learn it soon enough.”

(I’m glad the next customers were so nice to him, because he certainly wasn’t eager to try again later!)