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slowfoxI had to put some petrol into the car today: I was mightily pleased with myself for pulling the trigger exactly on the £20.00 mark. That was the first draw, too - none of this 'hit £19.86 and then flutter the nozzle to the magic round number'...
Anyway, wandered across the forecourt into the shop to pay. There were two attendants on duty - one serving, the other free, but as I came in, the free guy disappeared off into the back.
No matter: I stand in line behind a woman, who was having a conversation with the attendant about something or other.
Woman: Bye.
Attendant: See you - thanks.
slowfox: Hi *glances across the forecourt* Um, number I five, I think.
Attendant: *wordlessly presses button*
slowfox: Should be £20.00
Attendant: *silent*
slowfox: Um, also, I'll take these *picks up some chocolate*
Attendant: *rings items through, silently*
slowfox: *places card in card reader, keys in pin*
Attendant: *mutely waits for receipts to print, hands customer copy toslowfox
slowfox Thanks. Bye.
Attendant *to next person in the queue* Hi, can I help you?
I know that I don't lighten up everybody's day with my presence, and I get that people on the front line of retail aren't really keen on maintaining customer interaction with all and sundry, but, srsly, this was beyond pointed.
Now, had this been a straightforward sale, I'd probably have taken the hint that they didn't want my custom, put the stuff back on the shelves and left. However, since this was petrol, the stuff was already in the car (and at £1.059/litre, no less), so abandoning the prospect of doing business wasn't an option.
Mebbe next time they'll put a sign on the door: We don't serve foxes...
In other news, we have a white board in the office - however, it doesn't get used much, which is the achilles heel of said objects. They're fine for sketching out short-term things, but if you leave the writing on for too long, then it gets hard to remove.
Six or seven years is probably too long. At least, it certainly seemed to be, judging by how difficult it was proving to remove the extremely antiquated application structure that's been depicted on it these past years. A little googling told me that baby wipes were The Answer, and thus informed, I brought some in from home* to attack the situation, and the result is that we have a clean-ish whiteboard in the office.
Well, I say whiteboard - but it's now more a slight-off-white-with-hint-of-green-marker-in-uniform-sheen. But it's an improvement. Honest.
* I realise that, given the lack of children whose ages are more usefully tallied in months than years here at Castle Fox, confessing to having a stock of baby wipes might raise eyebrows. It's OK, though - they're perfectly legit: I use them for cleaning the bike... hey, why're you looking at me like that???
Anyway, wandered across the forecourt into the shop to pay. There were two attendants on duty - one serving, the other free, but as I came in, the free guy disappeared off into the back.
No matter: I stand in line behind a woman, who was having a conversation with the attendant about something or other.
Woman: Bye.
Attendant: See you - thanks.
slowfox: Hi *glances across the forecourt* Um, number I five, I think.Attendant: *wordlessly presses button*
slowfox: Should be £20.00Attendant: *silent*
slowfox: Um, also, I'll take these *picks up some chocolate*Attendant: *rings items through, silently*
slowfox: *places card in card reader, keys in pin*Attendant: *mutely waits for receipts to print, hands customer copy to
slowfoxslowfox Thanks. Bye.Attendant *to next person in the queue* Hi, can I help you?
I know that I don't lighten up everybody's day with my presence, and I get that people on the front line of retail aren't really keen on maintaining customer interaction with all and sundry, but, srsly, this was beyond pointed.
Now, had this been a straightforward sale, I'd probably have taken the hint that they didn't want my custom, put the stuff back on the shelves and left. However, since this was petrol, the stuff was already in the car (and at £1.059/litre, no less), so abandoning the prospect of doing business wasn't an option.
Mebbe next time they'll put a sign on the door: We don't serve foxes...
In other news, we have a white board in the office - however, it doesn't get used much, which is the achilles heel of said objects. They're fine for sketching out short-term things, but if you leave the writing on for too long, then it gets hard to remove.
Six or seven years is probably too long. At least, it certainly seemed to be, judging by how difficult it was proving to remove the extremely antiquated application structure that's been depicted on it these past years. A little googling told me that baby wipes were The Answer, and thus informed, I brought some in from home* to attack the situation, and the result is that we have a clean-ish whiteboard in the office.
Well, I say whiteboard - but it's now more a slight-off-white-with-hint-of-green-marker-in-uniform-sheen. But it's an improvement. Honest.
* I realise that, given the lack of children whose ages are more usefully tallied in months than years here at Castle Fox, confessing to having a stock of baby wipes might raise eyebrows. It's OK, though - they're perfectly legit: I use them for cleaning the bike... hey, why're you looking at me like that???
no subject
Date: 2009-06-18 10:53 pm (UTC)Thanks for the tip on how to clean whiteboard! I did not know that trick, not for the board nor the bike! (my bike needs it desperately, having become more grey than golden.
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Date: 2009-06-19 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:02 am (UTC)In our department, a bottle of whiteboard-cleaner is floating around. You spray it to the board, wait a few seconds and then wipe it off. Works reasonably well, but usually I only see it when I don't need it, if I need it, it magically disappears until I cleaned the board without it...
And about this clerk - huh? Did he ever serve you before and you did something he thinks warrants a grudge? Or was it because you look a bit different than others, which would be a totally stupid reason for not talking to you? (Actually, I have no idea how much different you might be looking, or if it's even visible, so I'd like to apologize if I touched a sensible topic here.)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:30 pm (UTC)Yes, I do look 'different', and generally this tends to be why I get stick, from time to time. But normally people in retail environments are happy enough to take your money (since it's paying their wages). I've only ever had a couple of shops refuse to serve me (both in York, as it happens, back when I was a student), so this was a little surprising.
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Date: 2009-06-19 08:08 pm (UTC)As for the baby wipes, I keep them around too. They're fantastic for getting crayon off the walls, cleaning tables, etc etc etc.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:31 pm (UTC)*notes icon* What did you think of the Star Trek film, btw?