Their Assumption Is In Bad Taste

Where I work, we primarily sell spices and tea, but we also have a small collection of merchandise that tends to fall into the impulse buy category. One such thing is tiny spoons: think like the long handle spoons that you get for milkshakes, but only about three inches long. People tend to get a kick out of them, and it’s not uncommon for fellow lovers of tiny things to buy one or two and nothing else, which is why I don’t bat an eye when a woman comes in, and almost immediately pulls one of the tiny spoons from the display.

An important note: the spoons are very clearly labeled with their price and are in a display with things like tea scoops, measuring spoons, and mini sieves.

I do my normal thing, greet the customer, tell her and the teenager she was with if they needed help to please let me know, and then let them wander. I didn’t pay super close attention after I noticed her grabbing the spoon, both because I was working on something else and because I figured she would ask if she needed help. And, sure enough, after wandering the store for about five minutes, she came up to where I was.

Customer: *Holding up the spoon.* “Where can I put this?”

Me: *Assuming she decided not to buy it.* “Oh, just put it back in the little jar.”

Customer: “What?”

Me: “See that jar over there with a bunch of other spoons? You can just put it back in there.”

Customer: “…really?!”

Me: “Yeah?”

Customer: “Are you being serious? I just put it back in with the rest of the spoons?”

At this point I’m getting confused, and I’m starting to wonder if she’s asking me in a super roundabout way to put the spoon back for her for some reason. But THEN she pulls out:

Customer: “I know I didn’t put my mouth on it, but that’s still really gross. That’s NOT a sanitary way to run a business!”

Me: *Having a sudden realization.* “Those spoons are for sale, not for tasting.”

Customer: “Oh… oops.”

Honestly, the whole conversation was baffling on several levels, least of all being I’m not sure what she even thought those spoons were there to taste?