Cutting and coaxing

[gordonzola]

At the holidays, I need to watch my tone when dealing with customers. There's a lot of things I can get away with saying to customers (though not nearly as many as anarqueso can) but at this time of year, the food holidays, I get tired and my timing gets thrown off.

A customer came up to me on Saturday with a piece of Parmesan. He asked if there were any smaller pieces. It was a $4 piece but we cut to any size so I said, "Sure, no problem."

The problem was that he wouldn't give me the cheese. I reiterated in different ways that cutting cheese is what we do, that it was no problem, that I was happy to do it, etc, but he still wouldn't hand the piece over.

"Well, you know, it's just me… I'm only making one meal… I don't eat much cheese…" he said, still clutching his "too-big" piece just out of my reach. Other customers were lurking, waiting to ask questions. My co-worker was on break.

I knew that I had to break the impasse. I said, "Hey man, you don't have to justify it. Just hand it over."

Now, like I said, I can generally pull off a line like that with enough of a jokey tone that the customer gets a hint that they need to look at what they are doing but can mostly laugh a little at the situation. Unfortunately on Saturday, exhausted from too much work and too much mourning, I think it sounded kind of harsh. I think this because the other waiting customers, well… didn't actually recoil, but they did shift their weight away from me and get wary looks on their faces.

That poor single man customer with the ginormous piece of parmesan just wanted a little social contact and understanding. I wrote years ago about the role of the retailer as the new social service worker, and here it was. Mister Giganto-Parm just wanted to be heard, to be seen. I denied his essence by treating him like a problem to get done with.

But then, as I started cutting, he said, "Can you just cut me off the tip?" indicating the almost rindless pointy center-bit.

I guess subconsciously I had known something was wrong with that customer.

"No," I said.

Comments

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

No harm in getting surly with a putz.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

generally true, and I certainly don't believe the customer is always right or any nonsense like that. But I find the retail day goes more smoothly by avoiding conflict.

owwee

[slipkid.livejournal.com]

I could see where it could come across as tough humor in the right context, or just tough if said a different way. I want my small cheese!

Re: owwee

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

and you shall have it, sir!

[aulaitcru.livejournal.com]

I wonder if he asks the deli to cut the crusts off his sandwiches.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

haha. I'll ask that next time.

[trixiefirecat.livejournal.com]

that reeks of a really cheap guy who maybe wanted to impress some date of his with cheese he never had any intention of buying & eating himself. who can't think of how to use a wedge of parmesan?!

then again, parmesan is like a staple in my house, so it's hard for me to imagine not having enough uses for it.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

Parm is the cheese that I least understand buying a small amount of.

[trixiefirecat.livejournal.com]

it's very plainly stated in one of my favorite simple-style cookbooks, that you use parm as a seasoning when you need a salty flavor. of course, this is an italian book, but it makes sense. so i guess i started using it that way--as more than just a cheese.

and moreover, it keeps for so long! it's like, when you put it all together, it makes you wonder why he was buying any at all.

by the way, i think what you said was funny, and if someone said it to me, i would have totally laughed at how i'd stopped seeing the bigger picture. that guy deserved the comment even before he asked for the tiny cut.

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

sounds like a "this piece of cheese costs $4.27. i was really looking for one that cost $4.00. could you cut $.27 worth of cheese off this one?" type of situation...

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

nah, it was more of a "let me tell you my problems" one.

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

well, it was a clever disguise!

[anarqueso.livejournal.com]

I probably would have said "hell no" but applied some dimples in a way that conveyed both charm and knife-wieldingness.

[sadie-sabot.livejournal.com]

Heee. We just had a conversation round my house about Rainbow Workers; one of my roomies was saying “aw, RB workers are always SO SURLY and unfriendly.” I was all, meh, when I ask for help I always get it and people are nice enough about it; I don’t need the people who are coming in and out of coolers and trying to stock shelves around spaced out customers to have to smile at me and go “lalalala “ on top of that. I mean, most of thw workers you se eon the floor, they’re working and customer service isn’t what they’re there for. I actually prefer if workers are not forced to be nice no matter what. As long as I don’t get treated like shit unless I’m being a shit, I’m happy. However, we all agreed that while the folks in the customer service kiosk were usually a little intimidating, the cashiers were generally nice, and that the cheese department was a special little corner of love, too. So this is extra funny to me today. YOU BIG MEANY!!!!!!!

[travisd.livejournal.com]

During high school one of the jobs I had was an evening stocker-type job at a now-defunct department store. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_Department_Stores_Inc.) The big perk of this was that we were allowed to dispense with the normal worker-bee uniform of an ugly red vest, and frequently also a name tag (kept losing them carrying boxes). The effect was to enable us to actually get some work done, while the normal floor staff handled answering customer questions and other things that us anti-social types really didn't care to deal with.

[erinmack.livejournal.com]

You need to write a book about human nature as observed from the cheese counter. I think it just may be a best-seller.

[thewolfteen.livejournal.com]

i'd buy it. or help write it. working at whole foods, not a day, not one single day, goes by without some soccer mom with more money than sense asking if we have organic Reggiano. they just won't accept the fact that the D.O.C. puts our USDA certification to shame.

[roxann-ireland.livejournal.com]

You know, having been the Socially Awkward person in scenarios like this, I feel sorry for the guy. Sure, he's being a doofus and a pain, but I feel bad the same way I felt bad the other day for yelling at the dog and making her cry.

[goodbadgirl.livejournal.com]

You're allowed dude. It's your crazy season afterall.

Plus, it's not as though Rainbow is known for it's ass-kissing customer service. ;)

what an amazing setup!

[chitinous.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I can cut you off the tip all right."

Re: what an amazing setup!

[sparkle-shortz.livejournal.com]

*rimshot*

[lapsed.livejournal.com]

I was buying a ginormous amount of cheese for our housewarming party at a certain east bay cheese place and having a generally enjoyable time being offered samples, when we got to the Parmesan. She gave me a taste of each and asked if I wanted to know which was which. I declined and, of course, picked the expensive one. I knew I was doing well when she cut me a huge chunk right from the middle! Then again, I was buying a lot of cheese and I DO get pretty excited in a tasting situation like that which I think gets pretty infectious but it was nice knowing I was getting something not everyone was gonna get.

it happened to a friend of a friend of mine...I SWEAR IT!

[elbowd.livejournal.com]

see, the rindless pointy center bit is THE MOST DANGEROUS PART!

how many eyes must be lost, oh lord, before someone says somthing.

[chloesha.livejournal.com]

You are far too tolerant.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

haha. you know, I was just thinking about you. Wondering how you're doing and all...

[uke.livejournal.com]

Oh, we call that Parmesan Reserve and it costs twice as much per pound.