January 09, 2012
Skimming
I go out for lunch just about every day. And on the rare days that I can't find a dining partner, I go home and eat (thank you, seven-minute commute!). I think I've mentioned it before, my strict rule about not staying at one's desk for lunch. It's bad for you on so many levels!
I have many lunch buddies, including Joan, whose boss is a NAZI HARPIE SHREW and micro-manages the shit out of her whole team. Which means that, when Joan and I go to lunch together, we have to stay very close-by, so as not to exceed the 59 minute lunch hour by one second.
There aren't many great places within a two-mile radius, so we usually end up at the same fast-food chain, the name of which I will not mention, out of respect. (It does not sell burgers.)
About a month ago, something a wee bit strange happened there while the cashier was ringing up my order. When I handed her my money, she was all, "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to ring up your drink." But she did give me the empty cup for my drink and gave me back the amount of change that would be correct if she had rung up my drink.
Now, in a perfect world, the assumption would be that she rang up my drink after I'd taken my food and sat down. I didn't see her do it, but it's not my restaurant, and I didn't feel like standing there and making sure she rang up a drink. I did, however, make note of it and file it away in the back of my brain.
On Friday, Joan and I went to lunch again, to the same place, with the same cashier. I was very careful this time to make sure I said, "AND A FOUNTAIN DRINK," very loudly and clearly before she totaled my order.
But she totaled my order anyway. Without the drink. And she mumbled some lame excuse like, "Oh. Sorry. Heh. It's Friday."
Oh, so you only skim money from your employer on Fridays, bitch?
Yeah, bitch is skimming. There's just no way that accidentally happened twice in succession like that. I eat out four times a week, a dozen different places, and the ONLY time I get charged for a drink that the cashier never rang up is twice in the same place, in the same month, by the same person??? No. Not buyin' it.
I didn't say anything then because I didn't want her to associate my face with The Person Who Narked On Her. (And I fo' sho' narked on Little Miss Sticky Fingers.) If she doesn't get fired, I don't want her spitting in my food. And if she does get fired, I don't want her hunting me down and shanking me in the liver.
But before I called the store's manager, I sat on it for a couple days. For my own peace of mind, I wanted to figure out -- why does this particular crime bother me so much? I mean, I could feel my blood pressure go up twenty points when it happened the second time, and I positively obsessed on it all weekend. Without knowing why.
Am I concerned that someone skimming, say, a hundred bucks a week is going to close down one of my regular lunch places? No. Do I particularly give a shit about random petty thievery? No. Am I some kind of zealous justice-seeker who cares passionately about righting every wrong in the world? Honestly, no.
It finally dawned on me Sunday morning -- I don't like that bitch thinking that she pulled one over on me. I mean, clearly she thinks that I have a gullible face because she chose ME twice. And I just can't let that kind of presumption go unpunished. I may have slim to zero street cred, but I'm not completely unsavvy in the ways of the world. I know a skim when I see it, and I knew it the FIRST time she did it. So her REAL crime is thinking that I am DOUBLY stupider than her.
Fuck that. Bitch is GOING DOWN.
I called the store Sunday afternoon and asked to speak to the manager. I told him my whole story, in detail but without using the words bitch, nark or shank. He asked a couple questions but mostly just listened. When I was done, the thanked me profusely, assured me he'd be looking into it, apologized, thanked me again, and we were done.
And I am satisfied. I didn't expect him to be like, "That bitch is toast!" or anything; that'd be unprofessional. After all, he doesn't know me and has know idea that I am both a paragon of honesty and a food service veteran. I'm sure he'll look into it, and I'm gonna give him some time to do that before I go back there again.
When I do go back there again, if she is there and pulls the same crap, I am going to loudly and pointedly make sure I see her ring up my goddamn beverage.
Just because my face is adorable and the picture of sweetness and light doesn't mean that I am gullible.
Comments
Damn straight she is going down! Young retail/restaurant workers today really irritate me. Maybe because when I worked in retail/restaurants as a teen and twenty something, I was NEVER as lackadaisical as they are now!
Posted by: Diane at January 9, 2012 02:13 PM