Has No Hang Ups With Hang Ups

(In this story, I’m calling myself out as being the “bad” customer. I’m shopping at a well-known Texan grocery store that is in the middle of getting upgraded from a regular to a “Plus.” As a result, everything is out of place and there are extra staff to point out where things moved to. I’m currently on the phone talking to my mom, since she was there a few days ago and forgot a few things when she shopped. Sadly, everything has changed locations again and her directions aren’t accurate anymore.)

Mom: “If you go down a few more aisles, you should see where they moved the spaghetti sauces.”

(As I head out of the current aisle to “a few down,” I discover that the equivalent of five aisles are moved with the area covered.)

Me: “Um… Mom, I don’t think it’s ‘a few more aisles’ anymore.”

Mom: “Well, hell… I don’t know where it would be, then.”

Me: *sighing* “All right, I’ll keep an eye out for it or somebody to help me out. What’s next.”

(She leads me to a few more items that are in the same places as her last trip, and then I see an employee while I’m still on the phone.)

Me: *to employee* “Hey, can you tell me where they moved the sauces?”

Mom: “I just told you; I don’t know right now.”

Employee: “Yes, they’re down—”

Me: *to Mom* “I’m not tal—” *just then I hold up my finger, realizing I’m doing a pet peeve to an employee* “Hang on, Mom. I’ll call you back.”

(I hang up and put my phone in my pocket before turning the employee who seems to be shocked.)

Me: “I’m sorry about that, now where are they again?”

Employee: *still looking stunned* “I… I’ve never seen anybody do that before, but they are down this way and to the right.”

Me: “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. That was my mom; she was here a few days ago and was being my GPS. But you changed it around—”

Employee: “No, I’ve never seen anybody actually hang up their phone when asking for help like that; most people would just ignore me, then get mad when I ‘didn’t help them.’”

Me: “Yeah, I know. I work at a different store, and that’s something that bothers me.”

(As I walk off, he starts to follow me until I pick up the sauce, and then he asks to see it. He pulls out a hand scanner, scans it, and then places a sticker over the barcode with his initials.)

Me: *stunned* “Uh…”

Employee: “Consider it a thank-you.” *walks off with a smile*

Me: *shouting* “Thanks!”

(I then waited until he left the aisle and called my mom up again, waiting until I got home to explain what happened.)