The Customer Is Always Right, A Modern Fable.

The philosophy behind the phrase the customer is always right is sound, but it was never meant to taken literally. From a business sense, without customers you have no business. On the other hand, there are some customers who are more trouble than they are worth. Some people seem to believe that they can enter a store and be treated like royalty. They would complain even if you shined their shoes and waxed their car. We have to tolerate a lot, but if a customer is abusive to us they will be told to leave. I have never been impressed with someone telling that a certain store does things better then we do. If you really feel that way then why aren't you shopping there? When they are in that store they probably tell the employees there that Wal-Mart is a much better store than they are.

There are also those who believe they are much smarter than the stores employees. In all fairness, they are some retail workers and management who, to use an old phrase, couldn't pour pee out of a boot with instructions written on the heel. I had a customer the other night tell me that I didn't know what I was talking about. She was wanting a Smithfield shank ham. She had asked some others and they came and got me. When it comes to meat I do have some retail experience. The first grocery store that I worked in I spent a few hours every week behind a meat counter. I found a shank ham and gave it to her. I was told it wasn't a shank because it didn't say so on the label. The label read half ham, which was the same wording on the butt end hams. I really wanted to ask the lady if she had ever bought a ham before, but of course I didn't. That morning I talked to one of our meat guys about it. (They don't work third shift.) He told me they used to have shank on the label but they quit doing that. I guess the lady will just have to switch brands.

Today's smile comes from the department of redundancy department. Last night I was breaking down the pallets of frozen foods. In addition to the merchandise that I stock they are products for the meat department, the deli, and the bakery. One case for the bakery was lemon meringue pies. The case stated they were sugar free and no sugar added.