She Is Sooo Not Ready For “How Are You?”

Our grocery store has a script for cashiers to follow, including such questions as asking whether the customer found everything, if they have a points card, and so on. It has been in place for years, and most regular customers have their answers prepared beforehand. A woman with grey hair approaches my cash register and unloads her groceries without a word.

Me: “Hello!”

The customer begins looking through her purse. I don’t mind, as sometimes my voice isn’t loud enough to be heard over the machines. I try again, louder.

Me: “How are you today?”

The customer continues to rummage, ignoring me, so I continue bagging her groceries. When I look up again, I find her holding a cue card a few inches from my face.

Customer’s Card: “Please do not ask me if I found everything I was looking for. I find it insulting to my intelligence.”

Me: *Pause* “Okay.”

Customer: “Thank you. I understand you’re supposed to ask, but it’s just so insulting!”

I finished the transaction in silence and the customer left. When I asked my manager about it later, I learned that she is well-known for this. According to her, being asked if she “found everything she was looking for” means that we think she is incapable of locating things on her own. I stopped seeing her a few months later; presumably, she began taking her business to a less insulting store!