Working on New Year's Eve was relatively painless and uninteresting. Lots of drunk people and quite a few stoned, too.
Just an observation, though--youth doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Interesting people
I think it was last week that these incidents occurred, but as my blog post seemingly evaporated, I can't be sure. There were two memorable "patrons" at the station that night.
The first was a young man who simply said, "FT" when he got to the counter.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"FT," he repeated.
I tried to understand him again, "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is."
"Eff tee," he over-enunciated.
"Um, OQ."
His turn to be confused. "What?"
"Oh, I thought we were just saying letters that look alike," I said.
He finally explained that an FT is a filter-tipped little cigar. It would have been so much easier for both of us if he'd stopped trying to be so cool and just ask nicely for what he wanted. Oh, well. There was another interesting customer within the hour.
Two women approached the counter and unloaded their arms onto it. Woman number one handed me two rolls of quarters after I'd rung up their items. I wasn't sure of my new employer's stance regarding rolled coins, so I asked my co-worker if we accepted rolled coins. Before she could answer, Woman Two nastily said, "Of course you can take it. It's money!"
I put the rolls into the cash drawer and began making change when Woman Two asked why I wouldn't take it.
"I did accept it," was my reply.
"Yeah, but why wouldn't you?"
Not wanting to start anything, I repeated that I had gladly taken the rolled money.
Again, Woman Two wanted to know why I might not have taken it. I tried to avoid a real answer by repeating that I'd taken the money even though some places, including banks, don't take rolled coins without the payer's name and phone number written clearly on the rolls.
Woman Two didn't like that. Woman One, by the way, just stood by like an abused dog the whole time, looking helplessly lost.
"You have to take it. It's American money! And I want to know why a business wouldn't take it!"
I finally gave in--a bit happily, I might add. "Well, according to United States law, legal tender is required to be accepted when an outstanding debt exists. Since there was no debt already in existence here, the business doesn't have to accept money at all." Her face started scrunching up at this point. "Internet businesses almost exclusively take PayPal and/or credit cards, which aren't legal tender, meaning they're not actually money. If a business insisted on being paid in purple jelly beans, you either pay that way or you don't get what you want. There's absolutely nothing in U.S. law that says a business has to take even legally printed money. . . ." I was going to continue, but Woman Two had had enough of my smarty-pantsness and said, quite loudly, "You're new, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
Transaction completed.
The first was a young man who simply said, "FT" when he got to the counter.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"FT," he repeated.
I tried to understand him again, "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is."
"Eff tee," he over-enunciated.
"Um, OQ."
His turn to be confused. "What?"
"Oh, I thought we were just saying letters that look alike," I said.
He finally explained that an FT is a filter-tipped little cigar. It would have been so much easier for both of us if he'd stopped trying to be so cool and just ask nicely for what he wanted. Oh, well. There was another interesting customer within the hour.
Two women approached the counter and unloaded their arms onto it. Woman number one handed me two rolls of quarters after I'd rung up their items. I wasn't sure of my new employer's stance regarding rolled coins, so I asked my co-worker if we accepted rolled coins. Before she could answer, Woman Two nastily said, "Of course you can take it. It's money!"
I put the rolls into the cash drawer and began making change when Woman Two asked why I wouldn't take it.
"I did accept it," was my reply.
"Yeah, but why wouldn't you?"
Not wanting to start anything, I repeated that I had gladly taken the rolled money.
Again, Woman Two wanted to know why I might not have taken it. I tried to avoid a real answer by repeating that I'd taken the money even though some places, including banks, don't take rolled coins without the payer's name and phone number written clearly on the rolls.
Woman Two didn't like that. Woman One, by the way, just stood by like an abused dog the whole time, looking helplessly lost.
"You have to take it. It's American money! And I want to know why a business wouldn't take it!"
I finally gave in--a bit happily, I might add. "Well, according to United States law, legal tender is required to be accepted when an outstanding debt exists. Since there was no debt already in existence here, the business doesn't have to accept money at all." Her face started scrunching up at this point. "Internet businesses almost exclusively take PayPal and/or credit cards, which aren't legal tender, meaning they're not actually money. If a business insisted on being paid in purple jelly beans, you either pay that way or you don't get what you want. There's absolutely nothing in U.S. law that says a business has to take even legally printed money. . . ." I was going to continue, but Woman Two had had enough of my smarty-pantsness and said, quite loudly, "You're new, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
Transaction completed.
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