Do You Sell Magazines Here?

On a recent visit to a regionally owned grocery store, I discovered that there was magazine rack on the premises, which gave me some joy as there are still a few magazines that I read (even with all of the electronic offerings).  After careful inspection of the rack I discovered that they carried a magazine that I often read.  However, the edition that they had was from last month and I had already read it.

Tough break eh (the only Canadian word that I know)?  But wait, my luck just changed, the man who restocks magazines has just arrived with a new selection of offerings.  Wow, could I really be that lucky?  Let’s find out.

So, I politely ask the gentleman if he had the latest edition of the magazine that I like in the three containers that he had transported in a shopping cart.  With a less than excited gaze, he told me would check to see.  With my anticipation growing to read this months edition, suddenly it all came to an end.

One second later, another gentleman pushing his own cart comes up behind the magazine man and says “hey, what’s up?”  In an instant my hopes for the latest edition of the magazine came crashing down!  The two gentlemen (apparently friends) engaged in a conversation that couldn’t be more boring if you handed out Valium.  Questions regarding what ground beef was on sale was quite the riveting discussion.

I stood there for five minutes pretending to be interested in the rest of the magazine rack when it became apparent that the magazine vendor was no longer interested in selling me a magazine.  Would it have really been so hard to simply tell his friend to hold on for a moment while he finished looking for my magazine?  Apparently, the answer was yes.

Once again, I must believe that these low paying jobs make it very difficult for employees to care about customers.  Face it, if he finds the copy of the magazine that I am looking for, bingo bango he’s got a sale!  However, in this world of profits over quality, the customer suffers again.

Talk to Ya Later!