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Tale 41: More Photo Idiocy

     While doing photo, I've encountered even more stupidity. One night, a guy called up, and wanted to know the prices for 1-hour developing. I tell him the normal prices for 24 exposures ($4.99 for singles, $6.99 for doubles). He says that his roll has 27 exposures. I ask him if you wanted singles or doubles. He says,"whaddya mean? Like one or two copies?" I tell him it's $5.44 for 27 singles. He then yells, "but ya just told me it's $4.99! Make up your mind!" I tell him that, yes, for 24 exposures. Extra exposures are...*click* He hung up. Later on in the night, he comes in and drops off a few rolls. I recognize his voice. He asks if it'll be done in and hour. I tell him yes, and take the rolls. He goes off to shop in the store. About ten minutes later, he returns and asks me if his photos are done yet. I tell him that, no, it's only been ten minutes. As he leaves, a repeatedly slam my head on the counter.

     As an aside, a few days ago, I had a woman ask me if we had film for digital cameras. She said she wanted to know since she was thinking about getting one. I just stare at her in stunned silence for a moment due to the sheer stupidity of this person. I tell her that, no, we infact do not carry film for digital cameras. She then asks where she might find some. I then tell her that Best Buy should have some. She then goes off on her merry way. I later heard that a Best Buy employee's head exploded...

Tale 42: Please, Just GO AWAY!

     On a pretty slow night, I return from my break to find a roll of Advantix film that someone left to be developed. Another cashier told me that the lady was still in the store, shopping. I send the negatives through to be developed and open my register. An old woman with a cart comes up to my register and just stares at the photo machine. I ask her if I can help her, and she says, "that's my film you're developing." I nod, waiting for the negatives to finish coming out. She then tells me again that I'm developing her film. I nod again. The negatives are done, so I go over and cut them off of the feeder strip. She then yells at me asking, "why did you cut up my pictures?" I explain to her that the ends of negatives are blank. She stares blankly at me.

     I feed the negatives into the paper side of the machine so the pictures are printed. While waiting for them to start coming out, she asks me how much they'll cost. I tell her they'll be $8.99 this month for APS (Kodak Advantix, etc) doubles. She then points to the sign and says that it says they're $4.99. I point out that that price is for 35mm singles. I explain that APS are $7.99 for 25 singles, and doubles this month are a dollar more. She then says that she doesn't see an $8.99 price on the sign. I explain it to her again that doubles are just an extra dollar tacked onto the single price. She says that she still doesn't understand. I take down the letterboard with the special and point it out to her. She finally, FINALLY, understands.

     By this time, her pictures are finally coming out. And they're all panoramic prints. She sees this, and asks why the pictures are so long. I tell her that they're panoramic pictures. She tells me that I messed up her pictures. I explain that she must have had her camera set wrong, seeing as how they're panoramic on the negatives. "Well somebody must have been playing with my camera without me knowing it! How much will they cost?" I tell her that they'll be $12.70 for 25 panoramic doubles. She then reminds me about the $8.99 price. I explain that it costs more since panoramic prints use up more materials (chemicals, paper) than regular pictures. She then starts going on and on how she should have gotten singles if she knew that they were panoramic, how she wanted to give these to her niece, and how there's a lot of pictures on the roll that she doesn't want if they're panoramic. She repeats this spiel every couple of minutes.

     8:30 rolls around, and I grab a cart so I can go refill half of the photo chemicals (1-hr photo closes at 8:30 on some nights). She asks me if she'll have to go to another register to buy her stuff. I tell her yes, and she gives me the sad puppydog look © I leave, fill the chemicals, and return. One of the cashiers tells me that she still won't shut up about her pictures and that she's bugging other customers. The pictures still aren't done. She's telling a customer not to forget her stuff as they set their bag down for a second to grab a bag of ice. Her pictures finish up, and I price them. She asks why they aren't $8.99. I explain the pricing to her AGAIN, hand her her pictures, and send her off to another register since mine is closed. The entire time that she is in line, she's glaring at me. Even after she left I could hear her constant rambling.

Tale 43: More Tales of Scruffy, the Loveable Drunk.

     May I remind you of Scruffy, the drunk guy from Tale 14. Well, he's still around, and he's still as drunk and incoherent as ever. One day, he came in and tried to buy some flavored bottled water. He tried to pay for it with his Ohio Card (food stamps). However, it wouldn't let him, since it's considered a luxury item, unlike regular bottled water. He starts yelling at the cashier who was explaining this to him. He insisted that we just take it at a loss. The cashier said no, and he demanded to speak to a manager. We called one up, and he told Scruffy the exact same thing. He left, rambling that we were ripping him off.

     As for his drunkeness, we had to ask him to leave one night since we had several customers complaining about him hanging around outside, rambling to people, asking them for change. Another day, a cashier's husband and one of the bosses were outside talking. Scruffy wandered up to them, rambling and asking to borrow some money. The husband told him to "fuck off you damn wino!" Scruffy stood there confused, then got on his motor scooter and drove off.

Tale 44: Give Me My Film! I'll Get You Fired!

     Hey, another photo story. One night, an elderly couple came to my register, and asked to get their film. I asked them if it was for 1-hour or overnight developing. The woman tells me that "I put it in that overnight box. I know I did! You better not have lost it!" I check to see if the film is there, and I can't find it. I ask her when she dropped it off, and she tells me that she dropped it off last night. I explain to her that it won't be back until the next day because of the pick-up and drop-off schedule for Fuji's overnight service. She then flips out and says that the film is probably still in the overnight kiosk. For shits and giggles, I check it as we do numerous times a day, and *gasp* it's not there!

     Now she's accusing me of purposely losing her film and that I threw it away. Nevermind the fact that I didn't work the day she dropped it off. I tell her to check back the next day, and she tells me, "I can get you fired, you know! All I have to do is complain to your manager!" Well, the next day, they come back, and I'm on a different register. I hear her bitching out the photo cashier. After a little bit of abuse, the manager comes up, and she starts saying that we lost her film. After a bit of searching, hey, it's found in the ONE-HOUR bin. You know, the one that's not overnight photo. "I told you it was one-hour!", I hear her telling them. So, not only does she not apologize for being an ass, she refuses to admit she was wrong.

Tale 45: Skin Tag Lady

     So, another customer with a nickname. Well, I've told you about smelly customers before, but this one is a whole 'nother beast. See, not only is she a that is up to the "I sweat when I breath," stage of obesity, she stinks like rotten garbage. But that's not the worst part. She has hundreds of discolored skin tags all over her head, neck, and shoulders. It is a disgusting sight that literally makes me want to throw up. When you factor in the smell... I wonder how I do it. And as with many of the customers I don't like, she makes it a point to go to my register every chance she gets. I could have a line of people at my register while the other two are free, and she'll still waddle to the line and wait. A few friends have come in and saw her, and to quote, "it's so disgusting, but I can't stop looking." Damn you, Skin Tag Lady.