It all started out rather innocent. I was slicing dead animals just like any other day at Sobeys. However today was different, Lauren had called in with a migraine and Andrew and I were left alone to run the deli. While Andrew was over cooking I was left alone to slice, which brings me back to the slicing of dead animals. I was slicing some nice dead pigs covered in a sugar glaze, when I looked up and saw that there were four more customers waiting in line. Being the totally dedicated and efficient employee that I am, I began to hurry to finish the orders to get the customers their meat faster. This is when the madness began. It started with the sticker. Now for those of you who aren’t knowledgable in the ways of the deli we take price stickers, fold the zipper over and put the sticker on top. We do this for the simple reason that if the zipper seal is broken the meat won’t fall out. Well as I went to place the sticker over the zipper the customer I was serving speaks up and says
“Um excuse me can you not put the sticker on the zipper, it breaks the zipper and ruins the bag.”
Now this was a big request! I would be going against my training, my whole method as a professional deli girl. But as the goal at Sobey’s is customer satisfaction I decided that I would follow the mans request and not place the sticker on the zipper. I assumed that this whole obsession with the sticker placement would die but the other four customers waiting in line had heard and were taken over with their passionate feelings about stickers and plastic bags, they decided to all give me a piece of their minds.
“Ya why do you do that! Why do you put the sticker over the zipper, you shouldn’t put the sticker over the zipper it ruins the zipper, Why wouldn’t you put it somewhere else the zipper is the most illogical place!”
“What are you thinking, have you ever tried to take a sticker off a zipper! Are you trying to give me arthritis!”
“STICKERS AND ZIPPERS! IT’S A CONSPIRACY”
Now, I understand how the customers would think that as a highly important deli girl I make all the decisions about things that go on within the Sobeys deli, but they are sadly mistaken. I have very little say in the placement of the sticker on the plastic bag. However they did not know this and were blaming me for all their misfortunes! I never knew how deeply people cared about this. I started to feel an impending sense of doom, they were all pressing their hands against the counter on their tippy toes trying to get a look at the offensive sticker. One man had spittle gathered in the corner of his mouth as he passionately declared his rage at the sticker bag situation. This was when I started to fear for my life, they were starting to form a mob, I knew I could try and beat them all off with a stick of hot Genoa salami but I couldn’t hold them forever. And that was the moment that I had a revelation, the sky opened up and I realized my job was utterly unimportant and not as glamorous as I had always thought. They were yelling at me about stickers! Well the shit hit the slicer! I threw down my conductor hat ripped off my hair net shaking my hair in their meat and I told those asshole customers right where they could stick their stickers before I stormed out yelling ”I’m FREE, you can all go and kiss my…”
Except I didn’t do that. No, I served them their meat with the sticker not on their zipper, which seemed to calm them down, and when they left I slowly walked into the freezer, calmly shut the door behind me, and screamed my lungs out. God bless Sobey’s on a Sunday.
Emily, you are right. You ain’t valued at work by customers. I feel the same way. Coming out with strawberries, or any type of produce, I always hear: “Are those fresh?” If by ‘fresh’ you mean ‘picked at the exact same time as the ones on the shelf, and possibly before, but have just been sitting in the cooler for an half hour longer than the ones of the shelf, after being picked around three hours earlier’, then yes…they are fresh. Some people don’t realize that when we say our vegetables are fresh, we mean it. Yes, we might have a cauliflower with a little bit of a brown spot, or there might be a couple bruised apples, but produce isn’t consistant. Get used to it and suck it up. It ain’t gonna hurt you unless you actually eat it and follow it up with arsenic.
On another note, I’ve gotten in a couple fights with my parents over stuff like this. We’ll be at a store, in line and checking things out, when my father feels he needs to make a point about how it is unacceptable that the store gets produce, like strawberries, from places like Mexico and not locally. Well, I’d just say ‘That sucks’ and blame it on the big corporations. However, my dad feels that by talking in his deep and serious voice, like an axe-murderer trying to make his demands understood, tells the cashier that it is offensive for food to be coming from other countries. My sister and I smile and try to gloss over, but he keeps talking and makes it sounds like this girl behind the counter is forcing the store to inject the broccoli with cyanide. As we finally walk away, we tell him that it wasn’t polite to put her in that position and that she really can’t do anything about it, but he says ‘Well, they need to know it is unaccecptable! She could go and tell the manager.’ Right, like an employee is going to do that. I know what it’s like. In that position you are not going to go to the head of the company and say ‘we need local food’ just because one man told you to. The company is going to do it’s own damn business and if you want something changed, you better hope they read the suggestion box because we aren’t doing your dirty work. It’s stupid to complain about shit like this. It’s ever stupider to make it a big deal.
It’s always one thing that customers have to complain about. It comes out of no where then they all gang up on the innocent server. I can understand how hard that situation had to be for you, but you handled it well.
I think the first ending was the better one XD
I hate those days at work when you have the bitchy customers…
I remember this one time, a lady came in and ordered a Bagel Omlette..
So i put in the two eggs, a bit of mushrooms, onion and tomatoe, like i do everytime..
I take it out all is fine.
The waitress outfront comes back and said, “you put onions in it.. they didnt want onions”..
I defended myself and said….. you didnt write anything about no onions…
So after a little dispute I made another one. the lady said she wanted mushrooms and tomatoes…
I take it out, and looks at it and screams..
” God Lord I didnt ask for tomatoe! I just wanted mushrooms”
Im never supposed to talk back at customers but i did.. oops I said, no ma’am you told me you wanted mushrooms and tomatoes…
Anyways.. end of story.. .she was a super bitch, and couldnt remember what she ordered.. and totally ruined my day..
oh joy to customer service