She Crossed The Line, Part 2

(I’m serving on the registers. There is an enormous line of people, so many of them have been waiting more than ten minutes to make their purchases. I look at the man at the front of the line and call him up. As he is walking up to my counter, an old woman with a walking frame, with remarkable speed, pushes through the adjacent layby line and throws her items at me, then turns and glares at the other man. The customer I called waves his hand at me to let her through. We both assumed that due to her age, she may not have realised that she came in the wrong way.)

Me: “Hi, how are you today?”

Customer: “Get on with it.”

Me: “Uh, okay. So, just checking, are you just purchasing these today? I noticed you were in the layby line before.”

Customer: “Of course I’m bloody well buying them! Why else would I be here?”

(She puts more items on the counter, rudely shoving another customer’s stuff to the side, making some clothes fall on the ground. My coworker and I quickly pick up the items so they don’t get dusty.)

Customer: “Why were you helping her? You’re supposed to be serving me, but you’re not doing a very good job of it!”

Me: “Some clothes got knocked on to the floor, so I was picking them up to make sure they weren’t damaged. Now, I’m happy to put your items through. Just so you know, next time you actually need to line up over there. There is a big line waiting for the registers, but that nice man let you through.”

Customer: “Well how was I supposed to know where to line up? There are no signs.”

Me: “Well… there are around 30 people standing in the line that you just walked past. Also the wall just behind me says ‘Purchases: Pay Here’, while the one you were at says ‘Layby’.”

(I point to all the large signs, but the customer isn’t even looking where I am pointing.)

Customer: “You need to put signs up. That’s misleading.”

(I ignore the last bit, since I’ve already explained it to her. I finish putting her sale through.)

Me: “Alright then here’s your bag and receipt; have a nice day!”

Customer: “I won’t! Because you RUINED it!”

Other Customer’s Small Child: “Wow. What a crazy old bat!”