natasha's corner

I was at an A.C. Moore store today and had an interesting experience at the checkout counter with the elderly clerk.

It all began when she condescendingly insisted on calling me “honey” (I’m sure she didn’t mean to be condescending, but I’m not a little girl). I took my purchases out of the basket I was carrying and she said, “You can put the basket down right over on that counter, honey.” I said, “Sure, I will.”

She scanned all my items and I took out my card to pay. She looked at it expectingly and even though there was a credit card reader in front of me, I asked if I should just slide it through (you know, ’cause sometimes they prefer to do it manually). She must have taken that to mean that I had never seen such a contraption as a credit card reader before so she helpfully gestured as she said, “You just slide it right here on the side, honey.” Ok, I slid it through.

“I’m going to need to see your card, honey.” I gave it to her.

“Now, it’s going to ask you a question, honey, and you should press ‘Yes’,” she said as I was already confirming on the screen that the total was ok.

“Great, honey, now you need to sign right here in this box,” she said as I was already signing. At this point, I was getting tired of being talked down to and said as calmly and pleasantly as I could, “Thank you, but I know how these things work.”

She completely ignored what I said, and explained, “Now you see, honey, it’s going to come up right here on this screen,” and she gestured to the computer monitor in front of her where my signature was displayed. “Uh huh,” I replied.

“Ok, here is your card back, honey. You have a nice day, ok? And don’t forget to put the basket over on that counter, dear.” Feeling about 10 years old now, I wished her a nice day and walked out.

Sheesh, it’s certainly an experience having an old lady explain to me how a computerized system works. And please don’t call me “honey,” even if you are a sweet old lady.