Imagine arriving at work at a grocery store when the very first customer of the day has a question and a bad attitude.

If you answered the question clearly the first time, how many times would you be willing to repeat yourself before you’d feel a little bit insane?

If I counted correctly, the grocery store employee in this story had to repeat herself 3 times before the customer finally started to understand what she was saying.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

Am I speaking a different language than my customers???

I’m the cheese consultant in a regional grocery store chain. I work with imported or “specialty” cheeses that either come in precut or as a whole wheel for me to break down into smaller pieces, wrap, and price myself.

I mean, real fancy-schmancy stuff that costs upwards of $30/lb.

My kiosk is located closer to the front of the store, so I get questions about all kinds of cheese, not just the specialty stuff I’m responsible for. No big deal, I can send people to the deli or to the dairy department depending on what they’re looking for.

It can be hard to find things when you go into a grocery store for the first time.

I live in a military city that doubles as a summer time tourist trap. My store is located close to the beachfront vacation houses that people rent.

Because of the military bases and the tourists, we get a lot of customers from out of state who have never been to my particular grocery chain.

Sometimes we keep products in a particular area that others stores don’t.

An example would be that we keep peanut butter and jelly in the same area as the bread, which is located in the deli/bakery instead of separating them in the grocery aisles.

Now it’s time to hear about the most annoying customer of the day.

Anyway, I had just clocked in when this happened. I hadn’t even set down my purse, put on my nametag, or even turned on the lights at my workstation. It was literally my first human interaction of the day, other than yelling at people who were tailgating me.

Customer (snottily): I have a question for you!

Me: Yes ma’am, how can I help you?

Customer: We’re looking for soy cheese, do you have soy cheese?

The customer should know that vegan food is non-dairy.

Me: I’m not sure if it’s specifically soy, but all the vegan cheese is in the produce department.

Customer, talking to me as if I’m a toddler: Noooo, I’m looking for non-dairy cheese. NON. DAI-RY. CHEESE-UH.

(Omfg non-dairy cheese IS vegan cheese)

Me: Yes ma’am, non-dairy cheese is in the produce department.

The customer clearly wasn’t listening.

Customer: So you have it?

(I literally just told you where it’s located so obviously we have it)

Me: Yes ma’am, it’s in —

Customer, interrupting me: Where is it?

(LITERALLY told you twice already, jfc)

Finally the customer understands.

Me, internally screaming: In the produce department, ma’am.

Customer: stares at me like I have three heads

Me: gestures to the back wall of the produce department On the back wall, next to where it is says “organic”

Customer: awkwardly holds eye contact for a solid minute Thank you (in the snottiest tone imaginable)

It’s not like she wasn’t clear.

Now…..I was still a little sleepy since I had gotten to work earlier than I’m used to, but I’m pretty sure I was speaking English to this person.

I’m pretty sure that non-dairy cheeses are vegan.

I’m pretty sure that it’s really not that hard to understand someone the first time they say “It’s in the produce department”.

Very happy that I have tomorrow off.

Maybe the customer was a little tired too and perhaps hangry.

Let’s see what Reddit thinks of this story.

Apparently, non-dairy cheese and vegan cheese aren’t exactly the same.

Not all non-dairy cheese tastes the same.

A cheese addict weighs in.

Sometimes cheese can have an unappealing aroma.

Another cheese consultant can relate to this story.

This cheese consultant shares their experience.

Listening is not a skill everyone possesses.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.