On the other hand, we have different fingers.

so there i was closing, with two people helping me and still did not get out until 11:30. i can.not. sweep for the life of me. even if i go really slow. i sweep, mop, and then have to sweep again due to the horrible sweeping i did to start with. i now see sweeping as an amazing talent. and for those who do it fast, it's an art form.

keep in mind the following stories i share because of there rare-ity, not because this is how the majority of customers are. in fact, the vast majority of customers are extremely nice, understanding and patient. for example, the elder irish couple that came in two days ago. now they were awesome, because though it took me a while to decipher exactly what they actually wanted, they still had a sense of humor about it (and oh! how i loved their accents). but then there are the others. the ones i pretend to be having a "worst day of my life" days, where every. little. thing. that could go wrong (or that could possibly mess up), does go wrong (or gets royally messed up).

there are some strange people that you meet working in food service or at least some strange sides of people that you meet. the first time i ran into someone's strange side was when i wrongly informed someone that their meal came with chips (she ordered a half sandwich, half salad so instead of chips she got bread). she comes back to me very upset, "you told me that it comes with chips, but down there he says it doesn't. now which one is it?! does it come with chips or NOT*!?" (*this is when she threw down her buzzer and scared the living crap out of me). still shaken from her throwing the buzzer i stuttered, "if he said it doesn't then i must have gotten it wrong. i'm sorry i just started--" she interrupts, "so it doesn't come with chips. then let me buy some chips!" sean (working next to me) runs to get her free chips but first tries to ask her if she wants baked chips or regular krunchiers. she glares at him and says, "excuse me, she is helping me." i wanted to give her her chips for free, but was too afraid to say anything or try to explain anything to her i just took her money and apologized (which didn't do much, she was still pretty upset about her chips).

some people are passionate about their chips, some are passionate about coca-cola. one time a lady asked for diet coke and i said yeah sure we have it. she came back three minutes later, "i was told you guys had diet coke, but you only have diet pepsi!" when we explained to her (and apologized) that we only carry pepsi products she informed us that, "no one i know likes pepsi. everyone hates it!" thankfully (aside from her initial attitude) she wasn't all that upset, unlike the guy that came in last night.

now this guy, i have no idea what was going through his head just that he really must have wanted a cobblestone or something. peering through the display glass at the pastries he said disappointingly and annoyed, "this is the second night in a row that you didn't have cobblestones left." i tell him, "oh, they just sold out an hour ago. you just missed them." he grumbles angrily, "we then. you guys should make some more." i then make the mistake of saying, "yeah, i'm sure we would but then if we might sell any them and would have to throw them all out." then he says sort of to me, sort of to himself, "oh so i guess it's just, fuck me!" shocked at what he just said, i don't know what to do or say and deside (trying to make light of the situation)to say, "it's nothing personal." this (apparently) was the wrong thing to say, because he then gets very angry at me and yells, "it's personal to me!" this, i had no idea what to say or do. the other guy in line piped in and told him to calm down, "she just works here, man" and when the cobblestone man tried to defend himself the other guy told him he was over-reacting and to calm down again. he then grudgingly ordered a coffee cake and told me to tell my manager, "there has been a complaint."

then there are some people who don't understand lines. like a lady last week, who flagged me down while i was running to the bakery to grab a cookie for another customer who was waiting in another line during the mid-afternoon rush. "hello! i just want a coffee." uhh--okay. so i quickly grabbed her a cup for coffee and told her that lucy would ring her up in second. she took the cup and informed me annoyed, "and there are a lot of people behind me, too." uhh--it's called a line. she then left the line filled the coffee cup and then left the store, without paying.

people (who are in the middle of a "worst day of my life" day) act in such silly ways, say some of the craziest things and are out-raged by the littlest occurrences.