I have written on manners before. It’s time for another lesson.

I was in a local store to buy a birthday gift for the Admiral. I found something I liked, and thought she might, and if she didn’t, I already did, and took it to the counter to pay. I laid my item there, took cash from my wallet, and waited. The phone for the business rang. The woman behind the counter, without so much as a nod to me, answered the phone and proceeded to help the person on the line.

The saying, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, came to mind. My item is on the counter, real American money is in my hand, I’m sold, ready to buy, and you take a call from someone who is not there, may not ever be there, and may not have money, certainly not in hand right in front of your face. What are you thinking?

I screamed my protest by leaving the item on the counter, making a show of putting my money back in my wallet, and smiling, walked out. I doubt she heard me. She was on the phone.

Another incident: I was at the counter of a busy store. A young man, without the slightest acknowledgement of my presence, held out his hand for my item so he could scan it. He did not say a word to me. He was too busy talking to an attractive co-worker about their date that evening. After scanning my item, still engaged in his personal conversation with his date-to-be, he pointed to the amount shown on the register’s display, and held his hand out for payment. I stared until they noticed me.

He turned with a look on his face as if to say, “Well, come on now, I don’t have all day. Can’t you see I’m talking?” He still had not spoken. I took the silence to mean he was ready to listen. I proceeded to teach.

“Is this lovely young woman paying your wage?”

Surprised, he looked back and forth between her and me, and answered, “No.”

“Who is?”

“My boss.”

I expected that, “Wrong!” I exclaimed, now showing him my money, “I am!” To make my point clear, “Would you ignore your boss like you have ignored me?” Silence, so I answered for him, “No, you would not. I am the person paying your wage, and I expect to be treated as you would your boss.” He and she were speechless. I pointed to the item already in a bag and continued, “You keep it. I’m going somewhere they think I’m important.”

These two scenarios are different but the same. In both, I am a paying customer with real, hard earned money in my hand, ready to have them take it, which is what they were hired to do, which pays the bills and their wage. They wouldn’t be there without me. PAY ATTENTION TO ME! Clerks, the customers in front of you are the most important. The phone and the young woman can wait. Neither is giving you money.

You may think that these three retail workers’ behaviors are a result of poor training. The opposite is true. They have been very well trained. Our willingness to accept bad manners has trained them. Anyone of us who has waited for the phone call to end, or handed over our payment to a non-speaking hand, has taught these people that such behavior is tolerable. Demand the respect due you and your money. Teach a better lesson.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human interest columns offer a unique perspective. He may be contacted, and his other works viewed at: HYPERLINK www.starchasers.us, or david@starchasers.us.