Bookstore Slave's Childhood Memory of a Gas Station Role Model

Today I'm posting a long ago memory of when I was a heavenspawn (or at least, a heavenspawn in this instance, as I'm pretty sure I had my hellspawn moments).

Now this was in the 80's so I was pretty young. The Shell station near my home had just gotten a new car wash and for a while, they tried codes that changed once a week. When they dicovered that people were remembering these codes and using them for free car washes without paying for them, they changed to the system they have today. In other words, it was no longer once a week, but changed to a new code per transaction.

Pre-gaming-system kid that I was, I was aware of the world around me, and knew that this new system had changed recently.

Well, riding in the car with the Parent Of My Friend, she decided to get gas, pay for the car wash and just drive up and plug in last week's code instead of printing out the new slip. 

Me: The code isn't #### anymore. They changed it.

Her: So what's the new code?

Me: I dunno, you have to ask the cashier. 

Her: No, the code was ####. That's what I'm putting in.

So we pull up to the key pad and she dials in. BIG SURPRISE, no dice. The system doesn't accept the number. She tries it 6 times, and gets refused each time. Finally the guy comes out of the office where I guess he was monitoring the system and tells her that her number was incorrect and that she needs to put the correct one in.

Her: NO! The code is ####!

So he goes back to the Cashier where she bought the gas. Surprise, surprise he comes back with a slip for the correct code number that the cashier printed up from her transaction.

Him: Ma'am, THIS is the new code. It's going to change every time you get gas.

Her: IT WAS #### LAST WEEK, IT SHOULD STILL ACCEPT THAT CODE!

Him: No, ma'am, the system has changed. Use this code.

She huffs and she puffs and she tries to blow the little pigs' house down, but the house is made of bricks and will not bow down to her tantrum. Finally she snatches the slip and angrily punches in the new number. Again, BIG SURPRISE, the CORRECT code DOES INDEED work.

I'm sitting in the back of the car, having witnessed this lovely role model prove that temper tantrums DON'T WORK and spent some time wondering if I would get swatted for pulling an "I told you so."

Ultimately I kept my mouth shut, thus proving that at the tender age of 7, I was more mature than the 40-something year old woman driving the car.

May all your customers be nice.

--Bookstore Slave

Comments

[Joi]

Bookie ~~

How do you keep from losing it and ROFLAMO'g all over the station?
You're a better womyn than I!

[Wolfycat]

Hee hee! The lady was probably humiliated that a 7 year old understood it on the first try and it took her a tantrum and then some!

[Bookstore Slave]

@Joi
I guess my eye roll reflex at the time was more powerful than my ROFLMAO reflex at the time. ^_^ "Geez grownups are stupid. I'm sooo glad I'm smarter than they are." What disappoints me is I'm still smarter than most adults. I have discovered that being NICE to retail slaves gets you a hell of a lot more free stuff than pitching a fit. Most people haven't discovered this wisdom yet... I shall sentence them to a year in Retail Hell, with customers juuust like themselves as custies. ;)