2002-12-20 - 4:58 p.m.
TAKE A NUMBER
I am not a last-minute shopper yet there I was at the jewelry counter at Kohl�s picking up a last-minute gift to take when we go to see Mr. Philately�s family. The store was busy but no worse than an average �Super Saturday.� So I was a bit surprised when I got to the jewelry counter.
The jewelry counter was not particularly busy. There were two sales associates, one on one side and one on the other. The associates were serving two people and another woman and I were waiting patiently in line. The associate on my side of the counter finished with her customer and the woman in front of me stepped up. �Do you have your number?� the clerk asked. The woman had no number. I had no number.
�You need a number,� insisted the clerk. Facing the inevitable, we asked where to get a number. The numbers were all the way around on the other side of the counter. �There�s no one else here,� protested the woman in front of me. She should have saved her breath. I was already trudging around and she soon followed. I arrived at the numbers first, but handed her the one before mine.
We turned to the counter and the woman stepped up. And then I realized. I had seen two women who had not been in the area earlier get to the numbers before us. We had numbers but we were further back in line than we had been during our patient wait while the customer in front of us examined every necklace in the case. �I have a number,� said the woman, still oblivious to what was about to happen.
�Well,� said the clerk. �Yes, you do but I can�t serve you now. I have to serve number 30 and you have number 32.� The woman protested to no avail and then voted on the system with her feet. I considered following her but I just wanted to get the gift and go home. (I apparently had momentarily forgotten the lasagna project..)
Eventually, I made my purchase. I didn�t need any help selecting it. I didn�t need any help getting it out of the case. I was buying cheap but fun jewelry, not the good stuff. But I couldn�t resist. �I understand why you are using numbers when it�s busy but why are you using them now when it�s not?�
You know what she said, don�t you? She said exactly what you are expecting. She uttered the words that prove that she will make a perfect bureaucrat when she finishes college.
�Because they improve customer service.�
LAST YEAR: The Christmas Poem and Santa
LAST FIVE ENTRIES:
Cooking Day
I�m Tired
Too Good
Retreating in Time
Reconnecting
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Copyright 2006 by Ellen |
