Did you find everything all right, sir?

The BBQ Pit
21

Yup, you certainly can’t please all of the people all of the time. Having said that, I’ve been pretty impressed by both BestBuy and my local grocery store.

I was happily browsing in BestBuy a few weeks back, looking at RAM sticks. The BB dude asked if I needed any help and he successfully dissuaded from buying new memory (he told me how to alter a config file so that Doom3 plays better. Then it was off to the grocery store. They happened to out of my fovourite chhese. The nice cheese lady told me of a different store where I could get hold of it.

Nice double play store-workers :slight_smile:

22

I find stores that demand that their cashiers ask certain questions are irritating. Things like you get a free car wash if the cashier fails to ask if you want one. One of our grocers is on this kick where they always ask at the checkout if you found everything ok. A simple “yep” always satisfies them, they don’t generally want to ask the question any more than we want to answer it.

23

If you plan to eat them, please warn us beforehand so we can set up a four-foot perimeter with warnings of noxious fumes around you.

24

Being approached while still shopping is one thing. Being asked perfunctorily “Did you find everything all right?” in the checkout line is another; the question’s irritating because it’s pointless. What if I didn’t? Is the cashier going to leave the register to go get my missing item, or call for someone else to bring it up to the front? Even if the store were willing to do that, I’m not willing to hold up the line at that point. So skip the insincere, too-little-too-late question.

25

It’s more than just willful gastronomical ignorance. IIRC they actually did tests on this issue (brussel sprout hatin’) and found there are a substantial minority of people whose sense of taste is slighly different (more sensitive than the norm actually) and are violently repelled by the taste of brussel sprouts and related veggies.

26

Where I do my grocery shopping they do. If I say “Why, no, I failed to find the tinned pearl onions in guacamole vinegar that you used to carry,” they will want to get someone on the floor to look for them. I do agree that I’m not going to wait or hold up the line at that point, but I’ll usually tell them anyway.

27

Like others have said, a simple “Do you need any help?” question, that I can reply “no thanks” to, and have the worker say, “okay, well, I’m over in aisle blahblah if you have any questions!” isn’t a problem at all.

But things like this bug the shit out of me:

Me: << looking at the wireless routers Best Buy has; I’m looking at their prices to compare with other places and do not intend to buy today >>

Worker: Hi there, I see you’re looking at wireless routers!

Me: Yep.

Worker: Well, do you have any questions?

Me: No, just looking right now, thanks.

Worker: Okay, well do you know the difference between B and G for wireless?

Me: Yes, I’m a Computer Science major and I’m here to price check.

Worker: Well, when you buy it, do you have anyone to set it up for you?

Me: I can or my brother can.

Worker: Because Best Buy offers an installation service for wireless routers!

Me: I’m fine, thank you.

Worker: Have you looked at the different brands here? We have < blah blah blah >

Me: << Head turns dark purple and explodes all over shelves of wireless routers >>
I mean, COME ON! After the first “no thanks”, where I told him politely to his face, I just ignored eye contact and kept my eyes glued to the shelves, and he would.not.go.away. That is fucking annoying as all goddamned shit! The only way I can get those people to go away is to just grunt answers, and I hate doing that; it makes me feel very rude.

[sub]And the bitter part of me is pretty sure that a chunk of that is because I’m a girl, and how could I possibly know this big bad technical stuff? I get that enough in day to day life and in my major, so I’m on guard against it. [/sub]

28

It’s true - everyone knows that girls just don’t understand things like “routers” and “computers” and other things with electricity in them. Girl cooties mess up the wiring.

My instinct would have been to ask the guy some obscure question about routers that he wouldn’t have a chance of knowing. Then, when he couldn’t answer it (or gave some bullshit response), haughtily said something like “well, if you don’t even know the basics about these products, how can you expect to help people pick one out?”

29

Daniel’s Handy-Dandy Guide to Aggressive–Passivity

  1. When worker says, “Can I help you?” answer, “No thanks, I’m fine.”
  2. When worker says, “I see you’re looking at the routers–do you know the difference between brand A and B?” say, “Thanks, I’m fine.”
  3. When worker says, “Because Brand B is better than A,” say, “Thanks, but I’m fine.”
  4. When worker says, “Do you need help installing it?” say, “No thanks, I’m fine.”
  5. When worker says, “Uh, okay, let me know if I can do anything for you,” say, “Thanks!”

A solid wall of cretinous politeness wil always win the day :).

Daniel

30

At the grocery store, I once responded to this question assuming the check-out person cared in the slightest bit:

Cashier: Did you find everything you needed today?
moi: Actually…no. I searched around, but I couldn’t find any of the frozen vegetarian foods your store used to carry, like the Morningstar Farms and Boca brands.
Cashier: Oh.

The only reason I piped up was because I thought maybe she’d make a note of it, and they’d realize there was a demand for those products. But all I got was a grunt, my bag and a falsely cheery “Have a nice day, Mrs. MispronouncedLastName!”

31

yay best buy people… ask them where the “adults only” section is for a gift for your 12 year old niece… or how exactly to bypass the security systems on the products…