Peoplewatching

One of the things I actually enjoy about customer service is watching the wide variety of people who pass through my store.  A few touch my soul in a way that I remember for years; many make no lasting impression; some others are just. plain. WEIRD.  I think that this evening displayed a slice, if you will, of all of the above.

• First, I had the African (as in, had a heavy, possibly Nigerian? accent) gentleman who clearly remembered me from a past visit to my store.  I don't remember him at ALL, but hey, he was obviously positively impressed with the last visit, so I wasn't going to object.  :D  He picked out a few cds that he'll be getting with his next paycheck, and then went on to catch the bus.  As he left, he mentioned that he'd be getting his new stereo system next month, and that he was really looking forward to it because of the quality of the sound.  He even knows which cd will be the first he'll play, and then said, "When I set up the stereo system and hear this music, I must cry.  It is just so beautiful.  My friends, they look at me and they say, 'For what do you cry?'.  I do not think that most people understand this, but I have to cry.  It is so beautiful."  I smiled and assured him that I understood.  I rarely (okay, virtually never) cry, but when I have in the last five years or so I would have to say that it was due to some achingly beautiful piece of music.
• Then, I had the really strange guy who yacked my ear off about the movie Luther (which I will never, ever, EVER see), started to get a bit innapropriate and personal with a customer who I knew who he had never met ("Why did you leave your country of origin?  What school do you go to?  What is your major?  Why did you pick that major?).  She was clearly uncomfortable (actually, once he left she said, "WHAT a horrible man!   Do you have to put up with many of these?"), but he was not getting the hint to leave her alone.  I rescued her and went to wait on another customer; he went away, but (le sigh) returned after a bit.  As I rang his purchase, he told me that a) the dresses in Pride and Prejudice were too "antebellum" (yes, you read that correctly), b) that he liked how I wore my hair ("very Victorian,") and that c) he would "like to see how I'd look in Victorian period dress, and he knew just the seamstress if I was interested."  I said, "I think not."  He left at that point; one more remark and I was going to call a manager to ask him to leave.  She would have, too, as he had already bent her ear on various subjects for almost forty minutes.  Yuck.
• Next, there was the couple in their late 30s/mid 40s who purchased American Gangster and some Sting cds.  She was in a power wheelchair due to (my guess) MS or something similar.  As they looked at a display, she unconsciously leaned forward to get a better look at something.  He leaned down and gently rubbed her back (nothing innapropriate, just gentle).  You could see how much they were in love.  Brightened my evening.
• Of course, my full-moon-with-an-eclipse-coming evening wouldn't be complete without the herd of guys in their late teens-mid-20s who set off every loss-prevention bell in my head, but (aside from making a ghastly mess in Pop Rock) were not caught doing anything.  There were six or seven of them (and they all were together) back in Music at one point; kept milling around, distracting me, asking unnecessary questions, etc.  The one with the mohawk (which was, incidentally, glued on) was particularly annoyed when it turned out that we do not regularly stock the Insane Clown Posse's albums.
• There were also the spawn of Satan (oh, excuse me, I mean younger customers) whose grandmother had me hold a few DVDs (which she was getting for these imps) while she went and got a couple of books.   I was in mid-transaction with Victorian-period-dress dude when these little wretches came back to Music, pounded their fists on the counter, and said, "We want our stuff NOW!"  I looked at them icily and said, "When I am finished with this gentleman's transaction, I will be able to wait on you.  Kindly give me a few minutes" before resuming the transaction with the other customer.  While in "real life" I don't like that I seem to terrify small children, I must confess that it is remarkably handy in retail.  They both shut up and waited politely until I finished.
• My final customer of the day was a...large...woman of about 60 years in an unfortunate red-and-white Hawaiian-style shirt and some applied-with-a-spatula pancake makeup.  As I finished ringing her transaction, her cell phone began to blare a ringtone of which I had been previously (and happily) unaware.  The refrain seemed to be along the lines of "She thinks my tractor's sexy; it really turns her on."  I kept a straight face, and mentally thanked my father for teaching me how to keep a poker face at a young age. (edit: out of curiousity, I Googled the lyrics.  This song really does exist.  I don't know why.) 

The tally?  One customer who I'll remember positively for a long time, two who just brightened my evening by being themselves, one guy who I will probably have tossed from the store if he ever approaches me again (okay, that's a bit unusual; I don't usually have them quite that weird), some peculiar come-out-at-the-full-of-the-moon types, some kids to whom I may or may not have taught the bare minimum of manners, and one just laugh-out-loud-after-she-leaves-the-store funny customer.

C'est la vie in customer service!