A study in patience and rudeness: my wait in line at Kinko's
I had to go to Kinko's yesterday to pick up a banner. As I walked in to the store, I saw a number of customers congealed at the service desk, forming a line. Now, Kinko's isn't exactly the counter at McDonald's, so I knew I was in for a wait. I was 6th in line and just needed to pick up my banner and pay for it - a two minute transaction at best.
This Kinko's is open 24 hours but when I got there at around 6pm it was poorly staffed. There were only two employees working the service desk, which is divided into three segments - Shipping, Banners and Customer Service. However, there was only one line.
I was momentarily tempted to blow right up to the areas marked "Banners" but that would have been pretty rude to the others in line. So I hunkered in.
Shortly after I began my 30-minute wait in line, a woman came in and walked right up to the empty Banners counter and waited. In solidarity with my other line standers, I glared at her, hoping to convey the inappropriateness of her actions without actually saying anything. Passive-aggressive seemed to be the right call, given the context.
She felt the eyes and, feigning surprise, meekly asked if we represented some sort of line. We all nodded in unison and she fell in behind me.
For the balance of the wait, I was subject to an unending series of forced sighs, under-breath comments about slow staff and somewhat dramatic proclamations about only needing a single copy made.
As I progressed slowly towards the front of the line, I noticed that she was getting closer and closer to me, ultimately ending up beside me as I achieved next-in-line status. However, I was too engrossed in a Solitaire game to give it much attention.
Then, finally, an assistant manager came out of no where and said, "Next." Instantaneously, before I could fully register the sequence of events, she said "Me" and walked up to the counter to transact.
I was somewhat taken aback at this brazen action. As I quickly sorted through my limited options, the idea of "Hey lady, I'm next" seemed unattractive. If she had stones enough to blow by me in line perhaps she would dig in, leaving the assistant manager as arbiter. So I took the high road and let it slip by.
Rude people suck.
This Kinko's is open 24 hours but when I got there at around 6pm it was poorly staffed. There were only two employees working the service desk, which is divided into three segments - Shipping, Banners and Customer Service. However, there was only one line.
I was momentarily tempted to blow right up to the areas marked "Banners" but that would have been pretty rude to the others in line. So I hunkered in.
Shortly after I began my 30-minute wait in line, a woman came in and walked right up to the empty Banners counter and waited. In solidarity with my other line standers, I glared at her, hoping to convey the inappropriateness of her actions without actually saying anything. Passive-aggressive seemed to be the right call, given the context.
She felt the eyes and, feigning surprise, meekly asked if we represented some sort of line. We all nodded in unison and she fell in behind me.
For the balance of the wait, I was subject to an unending series of forced sighs, under-breath comments about slow staff and somewhat dramatic proclamations about only needing a single copy made.
As I progressed slowly towards the front of the line, I noticed that she was getting closer and closer to me, ultimately ending up beside me as I achieved next-in-line status. However, I was too engrossed in a Solitaire game to give it much attention.
Then, finally, an assistant manager came out of no where and said, "Next." Instantaneously, before I could fully register the sequence of events, she said "Me" and walked up to the counter to transact.
I was somewhat taken aback at this brazen action. As I quickly sorted through my limited options, the idea of "Hey lady, I'm next" seemed unattractive. If she had stones enough to blow by me in line perhaps she would dig in, leaving the assistant manager as arbiter. So I took the high road and let it slip by.
Rude people suck.
posted by Imagescape @
6:20 PM
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