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Friday 3 June 2016

My Name is P. Donkey, and Apparently I'm a Grump

Recently while in a local store at the mall, I noticed a sign on one of the counters. It said:

THIS COUNTER IS CLOSED. ONE OF OUR OTHER CASHIERS WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SERVE YOU. I was quite surprised they managed to get all of that on a sign that was small enough to fit on the counter.

Be that as it may, I have to say I did not see any of the other cashiers giving any sign of being happy, let alone more than happy. They were not jumping for joy, waving wildly at me, or even smiling. I have visited this store often because it has necessities that are not sold at other stores in our town, and I can tell you that all the cashiers could stand to smile now and then. This is a store where comfortably middle-class ladies are the cashiers. This is not Wal-Mart where the employees are overworked and underpaid and lucky to have a job even though it has no medical or dental benefits or life insurance or pension plan. Someone in Customer Service at this store should probably have a little in-service about pleasantries and professionalism.

But, also, someone in Public Relations may need to chill.

Whatever happened to

CLOSED

or

NEXT COUNTER PLEASE

or even

ONE OF OUR OTHER CASHIERS WILL BE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU.

 Although that last one, again, might be assuming too much.

Where is all this hyperbole coming from? I believe in good manners. I believe in respecting your customers. But this seems a bit over the top.

Maybe the problem is that this is less like good manners and more like a sales pitch.

COME ON IN!!!  HAVE WE GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!!! NOT JUST HAPPY - MORE THAN HAPPY!!! THAT MEANS RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS AND PUPPIES AND DELIRIOUS WONDERMENT FOR YOU!!!

No, thanks. I'll just take my little self home and be happy there.

And please think about having that in-service.

If I must deal with grim clerks and cluttered aisles and overpriced faddish merchandise in order to find one outfit that I need to buy new, because who wears second-hand clothing to major life events? or to purchase a shirt for my husband or shorts for my grandbaby, then I will shop in your store.

But if I want happyhappyhappy I will look elsewhere.

Geez, is it just me? Am I just grumpy today?

Oh. Maybe I should go apply for a job at that store!

Oh. This is too ironic, considering my upcoming post on "how to be a better person".

*goes away, boils up some spaghetti, and beats self with wet noodles*

Yes, I'd say I'm grumpy.

Stay tuned.

Is anything making you grumpy today or have you been grumpy lately or have you ever been grumpy or are you thinking there may come a day when you might possibly be grumpy?

Feel free to tell me all about it. I'm all ears. Har har.





17 comments:

Steve Reed said...

My whole post today was grumpy, so I can sympathize.

Is it possible to be more than happy? I mean, even if you're elated or ecstatic, which is about as good as it gets, you're still happy, right?

jenny_o said...

Your post was excellent and just what I needed :)

Joanne Noragon said...

I used to be grumpy. I enjoyed telling drivers or pedestrians what fools they were, or making snide remarks about store clerks or customers. Then I saw it affected my granddaughters, so I quit.

dinthebeast said...

I'm more than happy: I'm happy, somewhat relieved that my disability payment hit the bank before my rent check did, and a little anxious about driving our broken car to said bank to make a deposit this afternoon. Does that count?
I've been working on the grumpy, though. I keep telling myself that I have a nice house to live in (finally, after almost three years in the hell-hole of an old foundry building we just moved out of) with a back yard to walk around in and a cat to play with, so why am I being grumpy out of habit? If I figure it out, I'll let you know.

-Doug in Oakland

jenny_o said...

Good for you. It's amazing how we can smarten up when youngsters are watching. I'm not usually grumpy, it's just something lately that has been affecting me. More on that in my next post.

jenny_o said...

Hey, maybe that's what the sign meant - more than happy = happy plus grim, perhaps? :0) I'm glad about your cheque arriving just in time. Next post I'll explain a tiny bit more about my grumpiness and take a stab at making myself get over it.

37paddington said...

I'm grumpy when i argue with my cranky son about nothing of earth shattering importance, which i just did. sigh. sometimes grumpy is an appropriate response.

Elephant's Child said...

Sadly some one in Customer Service is probably really proud of themselves for thinking up that sign. PROOF that customer service is important. Justification for their position. Which is almost always better paid than anyone who does serve the public.
And yes I am also grumpy/cynical. I try and keep it buttoned down.

dinthebeast said...

Good luck!

-Doug in Oakland

Mr. Shife said...

Grumpy would be an improvement over the blahs that I have been feeling lately. I am trying a new anti-anxiety and I'm not a big fan as I just feel not much of anything. I called the doctor today to try something different. Hope your grumpiness dissipates and you have a wonderful weekend.

jenny_o said...

I fully agree. It depends on the context, doesn't it?

jenny_o said...

Oh, you are so right with that analysis. Yes, buttoned down is sometimes all we can ask for.

jenny_o said...

Having no feels at all would definitely be worse than feeling grumpy. A person close to me has been there and it's not good. I hope you get a med that works better. Let's all work on having a calm, stress-free weekend at the very least.

Geo. said...

Semantic problem. More than happy is ecstatic, literally beside oneself --unable to contain the happiness in one body. If the other cashier is ecstatic, they should capture the extra and reopen the closed counter with it.

jenny_o said...

What an excellent idea! I've always thought semantics was code for "trying to fool someone using words" but it turns out to have its uses after all :)

Chicken said...

There is a store I shop at because it has many organic, local food options. The people there can be annoying, though, both the customers and the cashiers, which leads me to conclude that I must be annoying, too, because odds are I'm not the only amicable chicken in a sea of annoying people. I'm wondering if I'll become less annoying if I shop elsewhere.

jenny_o said...

Your conclusion is not supported by the evidence. You, Chicken, are a paragon of amicableness. Is that a word? Amicability. Whatever. I think if you were annoying you wouldn't notice the others being that way.