Aunty Acid by Ged Backland for February 18, 2024

From Not Always Right: Daring Is Scaring

I’ve been working since 7:30 AM and have had no breakfast. An older woman is waiting in a line that’s being served by a new coworker who is only on her third day.

Customer: “You stupid girl! Why are you so incompetent! Are you new or something? This is taking too long!”

We have a line full of people on both sides of our registers.

Me: To my customer. “Excuse me for a moment.”

I turn to the customer verbally abusing my coworker and I tell her in no uncertain terms:

Me: “You are not going to speak to my coworker that way! You can either wait your turn and treat us with the respect we deserve, or you can leave!”

Customer: “I’m going to ask for your manager!”

Me: “Go for it. I welcome their intervention. I dare you.”

Her jaw hit the floor, and she quietly paid for her items when it was her turn. When I turned back around, my ever-patient customer burst out laughing.

NOT my story!

I’m not there yet. I need to remember to not put the phone to my left ear, though.

Yes, sigh

But does she tell you so that you know that the entire bus is listening?

Things must get dicey when it’s an obscene phone call.

Speaker phones don’t do it for me, too much distortion on both ends. A good set of headphones does the job.

I’ve been known to say things like, “I think you really should break up with him.” When the person gives me the dirty look, I say, “Oh, i’m sorry, I didn’t realize that was a private conversation.”

Well, at least speakers free up the hands to do anything one wants……..hmmm,

It seems that half the folks these days are Named “KAREN” or “KEN” and suffering from SEDO. Supremacy Entitled Demanding Obnoxious disease.

Annoying…..sounds like you are talking in a bucket!!!!!

Me too, Aunty.

…and it’s especially funny when you’re walking thru a store, and someone’s on their phone, and they’re holding it against their ear, but don’t realize it’s on speakerphone for all the world to hear!

It’s up to you, I don’t plan to call you anyway.

So you want everybody to hear what they are calling you?

I will remember that and make sure to speak in a clear, loud voice when I call you Aunty from the repair shop to inform you that your favorite thrusting rabbit vibrator has been repaired.

Putting it on speaker is far easier than holding the phone to your ear, especially when your doc’s office or some business you’re calling has you on hold for 20 minutes…

I use hearing aids and can hear my phone through them, but the caller can’t hear me as well as if I don’t do that. Unless there are others around who would be annoyed by the call, I put it on speaker phone and the caller can hear me better. I can use the phone without the hearing aids but it’s more complicated.

I just don’t like holding the phone up to my ear.

With a Touch Screen and all the “Press 1 For …” options, it’s just too dangerous.

I pretty much always have captioning on my TV; not so much because I can’t hear, but because I can’t comprehend what they’re saying, either because of an accent or they just don’t enunciate clearly!