Upset

So I'm at work today. A usual thing for Fridays. I'm hauling a cart full of cardboard boxes, whose contents I had just previously stocked, into the back. When this guy standing over by the cheese beckons me over.

"Where's the Swiss cheese?" he asks, pointing to the empty stop where the Swiss cheese is usually kept.

After poking around neighboring cheeses to see if one hadn't gotten shoved to the side I told him I'd look in the back. So I go into the dairy cooler and I find the boxes of cheese of the brand that was on sale, the type he wanted. It was a huge stack. There had to be 50 little boxes (just smaller than your head) stacked up there. I looked through them all. "Cheddar, Cheddar, Cheddar... Mozzarella, Mozzarella, Mozzarella... Colby, Colby, Colby..." No Swiss. It being Friday, we had a load in as well. (that being why I work fir, to put up the load) So I look all over the pallets. No cheese. Not even cheddar, mozzarella or colby. None at all on those pallets.

So I go back out onto the floor and tell him that we have no swiss. That I checked and I double checked. I even looked through the pallets.

He gets a little squinty in the eyes and takes a step closer to me, never blinking. I get a little panicked, but I keep my ground, I don't step back. If he wants to be mad, let him be mad. There's nothing to be done about it. If the warehouse didn't send us more cheese with the load, the warehouse must not have cheese either. There's nothing that can possibly get done. So I look right back at him and try to stay rather pleasant.

He looks at me for a while, he moved his head around to different angles, still staring. (Paul gets out his dictionary), Hmm... how about glowering? ...so he continues to glower. I kept expecting him to say something, but he didn't. So I then inform him that he can get a raincheck (he can come back later, when we have cheese, and get the special deal) up at the front desk.

He asks why can't I give him one. After a moments pause I explain that, not only do I not have authorization to authorize one, but I don't have the raincheck slips. However, the people up front would be quite happy to give him one. He asks if I'm sure the people up front will give him one, still glowering. I tell him I am sure. He asks how sure. I tell him absolutely positive. He asks if I'm really, really sure. I tell him I am.

He glowers at me for a little longer. Then with a laugh, a pat on the shoulder, he goes off. I'm completely struck with... not-able-to-move-ness (or whatever it's name is), but I manage to smile and try to share in the joke.

Absolutely weird.

I've always wanted to try that on Wal-Mart employees, but I think that now, even I am not that heartless.