"Will you ever use common sense? It comes pretty cheap."

A lot of things have been getting under my skin lately. Some might blame it on PMS,


but I like to blame it on the idiocy of others.


One of the main sources of my stress and irritation comes from my place of employment. Not the job itself, (it's fairly stress-free) but with the ignorance of the customers that I am frequently subjected to. When you work closely with the public you realize just how many people are actually lacking in the common sense department. I work at a drive-thru convenience store, where we also make pizzas. There is a display window in the drive-thru where we keep the pizza that we sell by the slice, and where we also keep our orders. Keep in mind that this window, and all of its contents, are clearly visible. On an average day, this is how a transaction might go down...

Me: "Hi."
Customer: "..."
Me: "What can I do for you?"
Customer: "... ...I had a pizza order."
Me: "What was the name on it?"
My Internal Monologue: "There are four pizza boxes in the window! Who do I look like, Miss Cleo?! I CAN'T READ YOUR MIND!"



The following is an actual conversation that I had with an elderly gentleman customer...

Customer: "Give me a case of Busch Light."
Me: "Okay, It's going to be $21.20."
Customer: "How much?"
Me: "$21.20."
Customer: "How much?"
Me, louder: "$21.20."
Customer: "You don't have to raise your voice!"
My Inner Monologue: "Um, clearly I do when I have to tell you THREE FREAKING TIMES what the total is!"

And one more actual conversation, had between a coworker and one "extra special" customer...

Customer, while staring at our display case that houses every type of Arizona we sell: "I'll have an Arizona."
Coworker: "Which kind?"
Customer: "Arizona."
Coworker: "Which kind? We have like 20 different flavors."
Customer: "ARIZONA!"

So as you can see, a lot of the customers that we deal with aren't playing with a full deck. Isolated incidents can be funny, but when it happens every day, several times a day, any hilarity that may have ensued is lost. Maybe this is a lesson from the Lord in appreciating the things that He's blessed me with. I just wish that I could learn it in a way that wasn't so exasperating. *sigh*