Whipping Them Into Understanding

(I work as the dairy manager for a large grocery store chain. The following is an encounter with an older customer who has been shopping there for years.)

Customer: “Excuse me. Can you tell me where the whipped cream is?”

Me: “I’ll do one better; I’ll show you. That way I’ll know you’ve found it.”

(This is typical retail protocol.)

Customer: *after walking her to the whipped cream* “No, this isn’t right. I can’t cook with this stuff.”

Me: “Did you mean whipp-ing cream?”

Customer: *looks and sounds irritated with me* “Whipped cream, whipping cream, whatever.”

(She grabbed her whipp-ING cream and walked away. I’ve seen her since, but she doesn’t speak to me.)