Today I had to go to Walmart to pick up a prescription. I really and truly dislike shopping there. It puts me in the grouchiest of grouchy moods especially when the lines are really long. Today the line was longer than I have ever seen it.
I tried to make the best of things by reading all of the labels on the bottles while standing in line. Unfortunately, I was in the stomach distress aisle so I learned more than I (hopefully) will ever need to know about lactose intolerance, constipation and hemorrhoids. Did you know they make suppositories for hemorrhoids? That sounds perfectly awful, don't you think?!
Anyway...see I had lots of time to read labels.
So...the customer finished up and then the cashier did the unthinkable. She started helping a lady who was standing off to the side instead of the people that were waiting in line! After stewing for a minute or two, the man in the front of the line stepped up and said something to the poor cashier about helping the lady off to the side. The customer started apologizing and said that her prescription was supposed to be ready 30 minutes ago and that she just couldn't wait in line. She needed to get out of there (I know how she feels and I had only been in there a couple of minutes)! So, the man got back in line complaining to the lady behind him.
Well...that's all she needed was a little encouragement and she started muttering and complaining about people who think they are better than everyone else, who are too good to wait in line like the rest of us...blah, blah, blah. The customer apologized again but this lady wasn't having any of that and just kept on complaining loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear.
The poor lady finished up, turned around, apologized again, and then made her blessed escape from the jaws of that terrible store with the mean customers. The man in front went forward, got his stuff, paid and was on his merry way. Then this lady in front of me stepped up to the cashier, made her dissatisfaction known some more, complained for several minutes (that always helps the line to go faster) and then told the cashier what she wanted. The cashier was very pleasant to her, rang her up and finished up her stuff but the customer felt the need to complain for a few more minutes until the cashier turned away from her and asked if she could help me.
I had not seen this poor cashier smile once the whole time I was standing in line. She was very polite but you could tell she'd had a busy day. She got my information, brought my prescription over, rang everything up and then looked my in the eye and said "I'm so sorry for your long wait." I looked at her and said "That's okay, don't worry about it." This lady smiled the biggest, prettiest smile ever and said "Have a great day!!" I turned to her and said "You have a great day too!"
I'm not perfect (you probably knew that already, right?!), I get cranky, I understand the frustration of long lines but I learned (relearned really) a valuable lesson. It pays to be nice. That cashier's smile made the wait totally worth it. I was once again grateful for what my wonderful mom taught me..."If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Oh...and eat your veggies so you don't have to do hemorrhoid suppositories {shudder}!
Meanwhile, Miss grumpy pants customer had taken her complaining to the pharmacist in the other line and I made my blessed escape from the jaws of Walmart!!
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