The checkout lanes at grocery stores are an important part of the whole shopping experience, so when they break down, someone has to come in and fix them.

What would you do if your job was to fix them, and while you were doing that, someone came to you asking you to check them out, even though you weren’t an employee of the store?

That is what happened to the repair lady in this story, and the customer event went as far as to complain to the manager, who explained that the repair lady didn’t work there.

Could you stop what you’re doing and check me out?

So, many years ago I worked at a company that maintained check lanes for a major retailer.

That’s an important job.

I was responsible for fixing the POS systems, scanners, etc. A store called in a scale that wasn’t working right, so I took the call and started disassembling the check lane to get to the equipment I needed.

I had a basket put in front of the check lane, pieces of equipment scattered out on the belt, when I heard a noise.

Oh boy, what does she want?

An older lady, toting two baskets full of groceries, had moved my “Don’t come down here” basket and was staring at me.

“Can you move that stuff off of the belt? I need to check out.”

“Ma’am,” I said, “this lane is closed. I’m repairing it.”

Come on lady, it doesn’t work.

“Never mind that. I need you to check me out.”

“I can’t do that. I’m not an employee here. This register is out of service.” (At this point, I assume she’s seen me in the store before, testing the register, and thinks I’m a member of staff.)

“Well, you’re the only one with no line!”

This isn’t a difficult concept.

“… that’s because this isn’t a line, this register is broken. You’ll have to check out with one of the cashiers down there; they’ll be happy to assist you.” I said, pointing to the other open check lanes.

She huffs at me and takes her baskets down towards the other open lanes. As she gets in front of a cashier, I see her gesturing in my direction angrily, waving her fingers.

Did she really complain about this?

Next thing I hear is a page over the intercom: “Manager to Checklane 22, Customer Assistance.”

The manager (who I knew quite well) came over. More finger pointing. More… whatever.

He and she come over to the lane where I still am wrenching a very stubborn H-bar out of a scale so I can get to the weight cell.

“This lady?” the manager asks.

How could she not know that she didn’t work there?

“Yes! She refused to check me out. She had no line and she wouldn’t move all that stuff out of the way.”

“The one not wearing ‘s color shirt?”

“Yes! You need to fire her! I’ve never been treated so rudely in my life.”

At least the manager handled it well.

“Lady,” he said incredulously, “SHE DON’T WORK HERE!”

Customers can be so stupid sometimes, I don’t know how they get through life.

Let’s see what the people in the comments think of it.

Sadly, this is spot on.

This person has experienced similar things many times.

We could only wish.

Yup, this lady was acting crazy.

This is a great way to handle it.

Does it look like I work here, lady?

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.