Sarcasm On Aisle Four

I am shopping in a supermarket. Although a chain, this is a smaller version, replacing the old mom-and-pop store.

A customer before me is ranting about an ad they’ve noticed but the product is not in store. Two of the employees are explaining that the store, due to its size, has only a limited product range and it’s possible that a product in a nationwide, billboard-sized ad is not in store. She keeps ranting all through the rest of the checkout. The other employee steps out of the discussion in order to serve me.

I make sure my voice does not carry any threatening or aggressive inflection whatsoever.

Me: “Yeah, it is a real disgrace that such a small store does not carry the full product range.”

Employee: *Sighs* “Yes, ma’am. I think so, too.”

The other customer throws me an angry look but tones down the rant a bit.

Employee: “Wait, that was sarcastic, wasn’t it?”

Me: “Absolutely. I’m happy you are here and I accept that sometimes, you won’t carry the product I was looking for.”

The employee smiled brightly while the other customer pushed by me. I did the only thing you really can do in such situations and flashed her a bright smile.