You Are Under No Obligation To Remain In Our Garden

I was ringing out customers in my store’s outside garden center. There was a lull in activity, and a lady had stopped to ask me a few questions about plants. As I was chatting with her, a little old lady came up behind me and tapped my arm.

Me: “Yes?”

Old Lady: “Are all your ferns this expensive?”

Me: “The price is listed on the tag, but otherwise, yes.”

Old Lady: “None of them are on sale?”

Me: “Our stuff doesn’t go on sale until August.”

Old Lady: *Wringing her hands worriedly* “They’re so expensive! I could get them somewhere else cheaper.”

I assumed she was just making a statement.

Me: “Okay.”

I went back to the customer I had been helping before as we discussed the care of her plant. The old lady stood behind me, still staring with this same worried expression on her face like her cat had just run up a tree.

Lady: *Still wringing her hands* “They’re so expensive…”

Then, it clicked that she was probably looking for a deal.

Me: “Okay.”

She paced back and forth for a while after that in the garden area before going, I assume, to look at the prices of plants before eventually wandering back out.

I’m waiting for the day someone can give me a valid argument as to why, if they can buy something cheaper somewhere else, they don’t just get it there.