Speaking of...
I had a customer come into the store yesterday that I'd seen almost every year. She was just like anyone else...shopping for her groceries and taking advantage of the sales we had going.
Being that it's the start of November, we have begun having sales on turkeys for Thanksgiving. Most people take advantage of these sales and will deep freeze the turkeys so they can avoid the big rush come Thanksgiving week.
I was in the middle of sweeping up some spilled frozen peas when this lady, who I had talked to on numerous occasions on her other shopping visits, rounds the corner of the freezer section and promptly storms up to me. She shoves our ad in my face and promptly yells, "What the hell does this mean!"
I take a step back, trying to comprehend what she said to me. It's not often a customer just yells at me for no reason. "I'm sorry?" I ask, setting the broom on the floor.
"What is the meaning of this ad!" she shouts, pointing at a sale ad for frozen turkeys.
"It's just what it says, ma'am," I reply, trying to keep the conversation civil. "We're having a sale on turkeys this week for Thanksgiving. It'll repeat next week and we're going to be doing our free turkey givaways week after."
Her face gets red as a beet, "Your store willingly sells turkeys!"
I nod slowly, "Yes, we do. We've done it for a long time much like other stores."
She then throws the ad at my feet and pokes me in the chest, "I'm going to file a complaint with the company for not catering to vegetarians!"
I take another step back, "Ma'am,we do cater to vegetarians. We've got a whole slew of alternate choices you can buy if you want."
She continues poking me in the chest, "But you don't offer sales on those! You're trying to make money off us and you don't care about people who are sensitive to animal's rights!"
I could feel my face getting hot as I pulled my badge off my belt loop and shoved it into my pocket, "Ma'am, I'm sorry. We here at Albertson's are normal, meat-eating Americans. We sell all sorts of dead animals because it's what Americans want. Last time I checked, we're at the top of the food chain. I don't tihnk any normal, civilized American wants to give up red meat and traditional turkey to hug trees and eat carrots."
He reels back, shocked that anyone actually went against her beliefs. "What is your name, young man!" she shouts.
"Leon, and I've been here for about six months." I say.
"I'm going to file a complaint about you!" she shouts as she storms off.
I've come to think that PETA members are looney, close-minded people with an agenda that they see fit to force on others. I don't take them seriously...
Happy Turkey Day, everyone!
