Aselin

Those of you who are die hard fans of mine...(meaning my husband and my dog) know that I work very hard to maintain my style and image. This week, as I was making a rare public appearance I was so pleased at the snappy ensemble I had put together. Even my shoes matched, which is a big deal for me - often I don't even have shoes.

Wandering through our neighborhood Sprouts store, I was fondling the organic fruit, and scooping voluminous amounts of pumpkin seeds out of the bulk bins as people passed by admiring my flare. More than one person made pointed eye contact with me and gave me an approbatory nod. Ohh yeah, I was workin' it.

Hauling my stylish purchases to the check out line I chose the line with one person ahead of me. This person was a Sprouts employee who was purchasing two oranges and a bottled water. I figured they would go quickly. I figured wrong. There, beside the line for checkout moral support were two co-workers of Ms. Orange eater. As I stood behind them in the cue, I listened to the employee conundrum of the day: A customer, (said with derision) purchased a 50 lb. cut of meat earlier in the day. Said customer, (said with derision) returned the meat to the store, having removed parts of it. The customer, (said with derision) asked that the meat be re-weighed and then re-purchased the cut of meat at the lower price.

I admit, I didn't think this was an ethical thing to do. What got my goat, (yes, I have a goat) was the way these three employees spoke of customers, (said with derision) in general. There was a genuine disdain for those pesky customers, (said with derision).

Now I get, that customer service in general is a tricky thing, but these people went on and on and on, completely oblivious of me, a customer, behind them in line. Their language was tacky, and crude. Not classy like mine. Ms. Orange eater's uniform had a smear of some unidentified food product across the sleeve and her khaki pants were stained. Not at all like my stylish outfit that was getting style nods as I went through the aisles.

I kept listening to this tacky talk, getting more and more frustrated that these people didn't A) realize that it was us customers that ultimately provided their jobs and B) that there was no sense of decorum in all of this. I don't think I'm a primadonna, but I would like to be treated with a reasonable amount of respect - like if your going to talk derisively about my kind please go to the break room.

As the trio finally moved out of the way, the checker made eye contact with me - because I'm so classy, and then gave me a little nod. I smiled back and the checker again, got direct eye contact and then gave an over exaggerated nod downward while keeping eye contact with me. Suddenly I realized why I was getting so much attention.

By the way, once everyone in the store has noticed, it's pretty hard to zip up your zipper discreetly. So much for my public image.

Maybe us customers get what we deserve...