The Kid Thinks He’s The Big Cheese

I work on the deli counter of a large supermarket chain. When people ask for four ounces or “a quarter” of an item, we usually ask, “Just under or over?” as sliced items don’t always weigh exactly four ounces. A mother and teenage son are shopping together, and he has an attitude.

Mother: “A quarter of ham, please.”

I lift a few slices onto the scale and show her that four slices is “just under” and five slices is “just over.”

Mother: *Smiles* “Just over, please.”

The son mutters and glares at me.

Son: “We asked for four ounces.”

He folds his arms and continues to glare angrily at me, while his mother moves onto cheese, of which we cut off a large block.

Mother: “Four ounces of the cheddar, please.”

I’ve been doing this long enough to cut accurately to weight, but he thought I was about to do it “wrong” again. I looked him dead in the eye as I cut the cheese and placed it on the scale for it to weigh exactly four ounces. It was very satisfying for him to register what had happened, blush, and storm off. His mother just gave me a knowing smile.