The Dividing Line
(I am a customer in line at a major lingerie store in a mall at midnight on Black Friday. As expected, the line is well over ten times longer than normal due to a free gift bag they offer if you spend $65 or more. Two customers come up to me.)
Customer #1: “Is this where the line starts?”
Me: “Yes.”
(The two customers line up behind me and instantly start to rant.)
Customer #2: “Oh my God! This line is too long!”
Customer #1: “They should have every register open!”
Customer #2: “They do have every register open. They need to have this store on two floors!”
Customer #1: ” Yeah! They should have two floors!”
Customer #2: “I mean, look at all of these people in here! How can they have this many people in here and not see that they need two floors?!”
(Normally, any other day of the year, this store is plenty big enough for its typical haul of customers.)
Customer #1: “If they run out of gift bags by the time it’s my turn, I’m going to scream and call their corporate offices! It’s ridiculous how many people are in here!”
Customer #2: “All of these people are gonna make me late for work!”
Customer #1: “What time do you have to be in again?”
Customer #2: “In a half-hour!”
(Based on where we are in line, how fast the line is moving, and the number of people cutting in line, it could take at least another hour and a half to reach the registers that we can’t even see.)
Customer #1: “They shouldn’t have slow cashiers working, either! The rest of us have things to do!”
Customer #2: “I know what you mean! I can’t stand when they hire slow people!”
Customer #1: “When I get up there, I’m gonna give them a piece of my mind! They need to have two floors!”
(I want nothing more than to tell these two women that it is Black Friday; it is going to be busy no matter what store you go to. However, I decide that with their tensions high, it would be in my best interest not to provoke these ladies by telling them off.)
Customer #2: “Ugh! I can’t stand this anymore! I’m going to be late! This line hasn’t moved! I have to leave!”
Customer #1: “I wish you weren’t out of sick days! I’m not staying here alone with all of these people! I have things to do!”
(Thankfully, they left at that point. Hallelujah!)
This story is part of our Black Friday roundup!
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Question of the Week
Tell us your story about a customer who couldn't understand the most simple concept.
