You Booze, You Lose

I work at a gas station that isn’t in the best part of town. We often get customers who are drunk or high, and many of them are rude. Alcoholics get upset with me if I refuse to lend them my money to cover the cost of their beer when they don’t have enough. People addicted to gambling have cussed me for selling them scratch-off tickets that didn’t win after spending the last of their money, and heaven forbid if we are out of promotionally priced tobacco products and someone has to pay regular price for a pack of smokes.

I have many more pleasant customers than rude ones, but out of all the customer service-related jobs I have worked, I have never had to deal with so many rude customers daily as I do being a gas station clerk. I usually take all rude comments in stride, don’t lose my cool, and try to resolve any matter peacefully. I’m a very friendly person, and I hate conflict.

Another part of my job that can cause problems is asking for identification for the sale of alcohol and tobacco. I am required by law to ask for an ID for every purchase of alcohol regardless of age, even if I have seen their ID before.

I have some customers I card three to four times a day. I have the date of birth of many regulars memorized. For tobacco, I am required to card anyone who appears to be under the age of forty. Not only would I lose my job if I failed to follow the law, but I could face criminal charges and penalties, so I make sure I do my job correctly. Thankfully, most people have no problem with this, but some do.

A young man comes in who looks under the age of twenty. He places a soda and a bag of Cheetos on my counter, which I ring up.

Customer: “I need a pack of Swishers, white grape.”

Me: “Okay, can I see your ID, please?”

Customer: “NO.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot sell this to you without seeing your ID.”

Customer: “B****!”

Me: “Excuse me?”

Customer: “You heard me, you b****! You’re not going to sell me that?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but no I am not. No ID, no sale.”

Customer: “You’re a stupid f****** b****.”

I pull his bag off the counter, set it on the floor beside me, and snap:

Me: “I’m not selling you s***, and I am not going to be disrespected like that. You need to leave.”

Customer: “Oh, you’re not going to sell me my stuff, you f****** b****? I’m paying for it; give it to me.”

Me: “H*** no, I’m not selling it to you. I have the right to refuse the sale, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. You’re not paying for s***, because I’m not selling you a d*** thing. Get the h*** out of my store before I call the police.”

Customer: “Call the police, you f****** b****. They won’t do nothing!”

I picked up the phone and called dispatch. Once the guy realized I was actually on the phone with the police, he quickly swiped something from the counter and held it up in the air as he walked out the door.

My report changed from a disturbance and a customer harassing me to a report of theft. I walked out the door of the store to give the officer a description of the vehicle the guy got into, and as I was standing there, he drove towards me and nearly hit me. I quickly stepped back, and as he drove past, I was able to give the officer a tag number and the direction the guy turned once he pulled out.

About ten minutes later, an officer showed up at the store and informed me that they had pulled the customer over about a mile down the road and that he had been arrested. He then told me that he had only stolen a candy bar and asked if we (the store) wanted to press charges. I contacted my manager, who said that she wanted him banned from the store, but since it was only a candy bar, we weren’t going to press charges for the theft.

The next day, my manager asked me to tell her exactly what had happened, and I did, including how I’d responded. Her response was that had she known the whole story, and how the customer had spoken to me, she would have pressed charges.

The officer came by a few days later and told me the guy had two charges of failure to appear in court and driving on a suspended license. It makes sense now why he refused to show his ID.