A couple weeks ago, I stopped by the School-Turn Casey's for scratchers. There was a gal I hadn't seen before working the second register. That's not unusual. I'm only in there once a week, sometimes twice. I don't know all of them like I do at the Gas Station Chicken Store.
New Gal was the one available when it was my turn, so I stepped up to the counter. I was not cashing in tickets that day. I was getting a $30 ticket for The Pony, owed to him from a previous $50 winner I had bought for him. He doesn't like to cash them in, so he gives them to me to get more tickets later. He chose the ticket he wanted, and I owe him the rest at a later date. I was also getting myself a $10 ticket, and my crosswords, the $5 and $3 versions, plus the picture $3 ticket. So $51 I was spending that day. I always know before I leave home what tickets I'm getting, and what they'll cost.
Anyhoo... I told New Gal what tickets I wanted. She scanned each one and laid it on the counter.
"Do you have enough money for these?"
OH NO SHE DIDN'T! I was shocked. Surely that's not what she said to me! I was so stunned that I dumbly said,
"What?"
"Do you have enough money for these?"
Well. That is definitely what she said. Not cool. But you know Val. Not keen on making a scene. Avoids confrontation. Maybe New Gal was one of those socially awkward people. Like The Pony. Saying things that don't come out quite right, no malice aforethought. I'd give her the benefit of the doubt. I didn't even shoot her my teacher stinkeye, with the left eyebrow arched in disbelief.
"I have more than enough money for those."
I didn't say it in a hateful manner. Just matter-of-fact. After all, SHE asked ME the original question. And indeed, I do always have extra money in my pocket, in case I see something I just have to have.
New Gal rang up my tickets, and I paid her the money. Exact change. I thanked her, scooped them up, and left.
Here's the thing. I don't appreciate being asked such a question. Do I look like I sleep out back on a bed of rags and regrets? Is my clothing unkempt? Do I have my empty pockets pulled inside-out? Do I stink of unwashedness? Was I carrying an old sock full of coins?
NO! NO! NO! NO! And NO!
Farmer H, upon being forced to listen to my tale of mild outrage, said that perhaps New Gal has had customers ask for tickets, and then they don't have enough money. Huh. Not MY problem! Surely they taught New Gal how to void a transaction before turning her loose on a register. I've seen clerks pull a ticket, and it's the wrong one, and they just stick it back in the slot to give the next person who wants that ticket. It's not like they have to fill out a ten-page form in triplicate.
ANDDDDDDDDDD, unless New Gal asks every single customer who buys lottery tickets if they have enough money, then I feel like she was singling me out for some unknown reason. I don't appreciate it.
Still, Val is not one to make (nor carry) a stink. I didn't say anything to New Gal about it. But I have my eye on her. Especially since the stunt she pulled on Tuesday...
Why didn't you use the stinkeye? I use the teacher laser beams straight to their eyeballs.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I was so startled to be asked that question. Second, I thought she might just be socially awkward, and trying to make a joke. After our second encounter (story coming up), I am regretting withholding the stinkeye.
DeleteI'm sort of agreeing with Farmer H, that girl may have transferred from a store where people often didn't have enough money for their purchases, maybe other goods as well as scratchers. She may have been taught to ask that, especially if customers were buying more than one or two items. Some people can't add up in their heads and some think they have plenty of money if their hands are filled with coins, yet those coins may only be dimes or quarters and they just don't know how that adds up. Being clean and well dressed isn't always an indication.
ReplyDeleteYou and Hick make a good pair, heh, heh! In all my years of buying scratchers, in assorted Casey's, and other convenience stores, I have NEVER been asked if I had enough money to pay for my purchase. So I'm not at all receptive to that "training" excuse.
DeleteThe "cleanliness" question was a reference to the state of our local panhandlers, who live under the bridge next to running water they don't use, and are not noted for having disposable income for scratchers. Being not-clean and not-well-dressed is sometimes an indication that funds might be lacking, and could explain New Gal's question.
Maybe she has seen you taking pictures of pennies before grabbing and placing them in your pocket like you have found treasure and thought perhaps you were not financially solvent. Or maybe she is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
ReplyDeleteKind of a strange question to ask, most people buying scratchers know what they cost and would not try to buy more than they have the cash for.
Heh, heh! She MIGHT have been the clerk I had before I stopped for a DIME picture on the way out! But that was after the fact, so not a factor in her questioning.
DeleteI really thought she was trying to make a joke, until she repeated it in that dead-serious manner.