I'm a tolerant kinda guy. I can breeze through the day with little affecting me. You could say I'm a loner, I don't like having to rely on others. If I want to do something, I'll do it, no hanging on for company, I guess I'm just used to doing stuff on my own, if something bothers me I only have myself to blame and I'm cool with that, maybe I'm selfish, oh well. Sometimes it is those outside of my world who bother me and that is out of my hands. The other day the behavior of somebody I didn't know and will never meet again got me riled up.
Most people are alright. I know this because it is very rare when you come across a knob head and they stand out like a sore thumb. Having worked with the general public a bit I haven't come across many who have left me with a sick feeling in my mouth, well, the proportion of dicks to nice people is higher when dealing with drunks but that's understandable, manners go out of the window after a few pints. On Saturday afternoon there was no alcohol involved and I had a situation with a rude man who didn't deserve to be served with the dignity I gave him and if I hadn't needed the sale my response might have been very different.
I was in Buxton, an affluent area of Derbyshire selling bags in a lovely building at a Spring Arts and Crafts fair, everybody I had come in contact with was overly friendly but it had been a slow morning, I needed some sales. This couple were milling around the stall for ages, the bloke had an air of Jeremy Clarkson about him, I'm guessing he's a Daily Mail reader, in his fifties, probably a wealthy business owner. He'd done well to bag his wife/girlfriend/partner/mistress/whatever but she didn't seem too interested in him. She walked away, clearly bored of him picking up satchels.
At this point he had been at the stall about five minutes (don't get why it takes so long to pick a bag) so I thought I'd make some light convo... I am not a pushy sales man, I wasn't even trying to sell, just telling him about the products, a pretty reasonable move to somebody who had been hovering about for ages. At first he ignored me (I HATE that), then he snapped 'are you talking to me?', I laughed, thinking he was mucking about, y'know, quoting that line from the film that I can't think the name of. He wasn't joking, he was then like 'I'll talk to you if I need help', the tone he used was rude, abrupt and undignified, I hate it when sales assistants pounce on me but I'll either brush them off politely or reply, not ignore them and snap, especially if I had been showing interest in their products for some time. To be fair, this is the only customer who has acted in this way so I wasn't sure how to respond.
He carried on looking, opening up every bag, which are pretty much the same inside, it is annoying when people open them up but he was opening several up and leaving them open, making the stall look messy, especially when other customers were looking too, so I went and tidied up.
He then barked 'do you know what I'm trying to do, compare them so that I can decide which to buy', again, in a mannerless tone. I almost snapped back, I had to refrain from calling him a cunt, which he was being as I wanted his £££'s. I just told him he was being rude, he didn't respond, probably ignoring me. I was beginning to get real angry but he was clearly wanting to spend, leaving me in some a pickle.
After opening pretty much every satchel he walked away, leaving them open, making the stall look a right state. A few minutes later he returned, wife in tow, he showed her a few, clearly unable to think for himself, but she looked blankly, clearly not giving a fuck, he picked a £45 satchel, handed over his money then shouted, again with an abrupt tone as I was packing it away, telling me he didn't want it packing. Barking orders at me like he's in charge here.
I gave him his purchase without service with a smile or pleasantries. After that I had a rush of sales, clearly karma played it's part. Looking back I wish I had called him a rude cunt and not taken his money, maybe he is unaware that behavior like that isn't on, I hope nobody else has to deal with this charmless man.
