Spinning A Yarn About Being Sorry

(A customer brings up a skein of yarn to the register. I see she is intending to use a coupon.)

Me: “Ma’am, that coupon won’t work on the yarn because it is on clearance.”

Customer: “Well, that’s not very fair. It’s only a few cents off from the normal price, anyway.”

Me: “Actually, these are normally about $6, and it’s coming up for $2.64, so it’s cheaper than you would get using a coupon on a regular-priced one. Would you still like to buy it?”

Customer: “It’s not fair! Why can’t I get my discount!? This is ridiculous!”

Me: “I’m sorry you feel that way, but we don’t give discounts on clearance items.”

Customer: “Oh, I bet you are.”

(I am becoming both annoyed and nervous that the customer is going to have a full-on meltdown over this. I attempt to sound deeply sorry.)

Me: “I cannot express how bad I feel about this, ma’am. There’s really just not much I can do here.”

(The customer suddenly starts laughing and smiling.)

Customer: “Oh, I’m sure. I still don’t think it’s fair, but thank you for having some humor about it!”

(The customer pays for her yarn and leaves. The next customer in my line has been watching the whole exchange and is just as surprised as me that things didn’t turn ugly.)

Next Customer: “Is your boss around?”

Me: “Actually, I’m the boss right now; I’m the only manager here tonight.”

Next Customer: “Oh, well I would like to compliment the crap out of you! I was going to say something pretty soon if she kept on like that!”