One Sandwich, Hold The Plural

(I am working at a very popular fast food place. I am very sick, and have tried to call in, but as we were short-handed, I am asked to come and just work the lunch rush. Since the lunch rush is over, my manager tells me to help the last two customers, who appear to be construction workers, and then I can go home. I smile brightly despite feeling like crap.)

Me: “Hi, what can I get for you?”

Customer: “I want [sandwiches]!”

(I am confused, as he pluralizes the word and doesn’t specify the number of sandwiches.)

Me: “Sure, how many would you like?”

Customer: *glaring* “I… want… ONE… [sandwich]. Do you understand? ONE… [sandwich].”

Me: “Sure, sorry for the misunderstanding. It’s just usually when someone pluralizes a word, that means they want more than one. Would you like the meal, or just the sandwich?”

Customer: “I said ONE [sandwich]! I don’t want the d*** meal!”

Me: “Okay, no problem. Would you like anything else?”

Customer: “Yeah, give me a small fry and an orange juice.”

Me: “Sir, it would actually be cheaper for you to just get the meal, which comes with a medium fry, and then you could still get orange juice as the drink.”

Customer: “I said I don’t want the meal! Are you stupid?”

Me: “No, sir, just trying to save you money. But that’s fine. Your total is [total].”

(His total is a couple of dollars more than how much the meal would have been.)

Customer: “Wait. How much would the meal be?”

Me: “Just one moment, and I’ll total that up for you.”

(I press a few buttons, canceling out his order, and replace it with the meal with an orange juice.)

Me: “Your total doing it that way is [new total].”

Customer: “Huh. I guess it is cheaper. I’ll do that instead.”

(The customer pays, and I help the next customer in line, who is apparently one of his coworkers. This one is much nicer than the other one, and even says please and thank you. I get off work and go to change out of my work clothes so I can walk home. On my way out of the bathroom, I’m stopped by the two men.)

Customer: “Listen, I’m really sorry for how I treated you. There was no excuse for that. I’ve just had a really bad day.”

Me: “It’s okay, sir, really.”

Customer: “This is for you.”

(He hands me an apple pie, which he had apparently gotten after I had gone into the bathroom to change.)

Customer: “Your manager tells me that you are sick today, and still came in. I never would have guessed you weren’t feeling well. Your customer service is really extraordinary, and I told him so.”

Me: “Thank you so much, sir. I hope you have a much better day from here on out, both of you!”

(They wish me a good day also, and tell me they hope I feel better soon. Somehow, after that, I DO actually feel better!)