A Tale of Two Pet Shops
It was the best of times, and in 2020 it was the worst of times...
First a disclaimer. This thread is NOT to dispute the reality of the Beer Virus, nor is it intended to start yet another pointless political discussion. Finally this is not a thread meant to discuss the legitimacy or effectiveness of a given law, and for the record I do take responsibility for my actions in this short tale. What this thread is meant to be a discussion on rude customer service and how it will destroy a business.
Once upon a time, there were two pet shops in the Duchy of Brookings and Harbor. One of the pet shops is located in the middle of town in a yellow brick building, and is really more of a pet supply store than an actual pet shop. The other pet shop actually is a pet shop located located over in Harbor, and whom I have done business with for years. The only reason I didn't go there originally is because they are farther away from where I live, and farther away from my doctor where I had my monthly check up.
So yesterday while I was running errands and after my appointment, I wanted to stop by the large pet supply store and pick up a bag of hamster chow. Now I had been wearing my mask while in the doctor's office, but had taken it off after I was done. Carelessly I had gone into the yellow brick building without my mask, grabbed my bag of hamster chow, and went up to the register to check out and get on with the rest of my day.
As it was the Karen that was working one of the registers decided to take the opportunity to dress me down in front of the store and kicked me out. She asked if I had a mask, which I did, but it was out in the car. Something to understand about me is that I am arthritic to the point it is a disability. My joints were already screaming out in intense pain, about a 9 on a 10 scale, so for that I said no. That's when I got my ass chewed and kicked out of the store.
So what is a Karen you might ask? Here is the Wikipedia definition:
Karen (pejorative) - Wikipedia
Karen is a pejorative term used in the United States and other English-speaking countries for a woman perceived to be entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is considered appropriate or necessary.
As said, I'll own up to my responsibility for not wearing the mask. But what happened was WAYYYY out of line. You don't humiliate customers in front of the damn town and expect to stay in business for long. There are far better ways the incident could have been handled without resorting to such rudeness. As it is this pet supply store has permanently lost a customer, and now I'm calling them out on the internet.
I then went over to the other pet shop in Harbor where I was received a friendly greeting, and they had my bag of hamster food for a dollar less than the other place. Gee, hmmm... who am I going to be doing business with in the future? Don't think it takes a genius to figure that one out! LOL!
So boys and girls, what is the moral of the story? Right or wrong, don't mistreat your customers, because it WILL come back to haunt you. read more