Shoe Squreaking Goobers

Went grocery shopping today and heard a funny story from the check-out clerk. I'll be honest, watching her work with the guy in front of me, she seemed a bit slow. Not stupid or disabled or anything just not too swooft on the uptake. 

Well, it gets to be my turn and she's making small talk. <Beep> How are you today? <Beep> <Beep> Fine, fine. <Beep> Find everything you were looking for? <Beep> <Beep> For the most part. <Beep> And then she stopped. Stopped cold with a distant look of extreme irritation on her face. 

You know that wet squeaking sound tennis shoes make on tile floors? Mm hmm... there was a teenage boy just squreaking his way across the front of the store. Doing his best to make every step count. And she was NOT happy. 

I made a comment along the lines of "Wow that's annoying...", hoping the <Beeps> would start back up. She looks me dead in the eye and says "I HATE THAT NOISE." Thankfully the <Beep> started beeping at regular intervals again so I just rolled with it. 

Maccayla (that was her name) kept talking and told me a story about how she'd embarrassed a teenage boy who was squeaking around not too long ago. Said she'd heard as much as she could stand and finally said "Would you please stop that!?" His response was to get belligerent with her and pop off with "Excuse you? (squeak squeak)" When she said she told him that she "WAS having a good day" but "was NOT afraid to lose her job taking those shoes off his feet..." I lost it. It was my turn to stop cold - bags in hand, somewhere between the turnstyle and my cart. And then I laughed. I laughed so hard I got a cramp in my neck and nearly dropped the bags I was holding.

Good for her! I often feel sorry for the clerks at large retailers. They have to bear the brunt of unhappy customers, emotional new mothers, screaming toddlers, humiliating insufficient funds. They represent the company to the public and yet are usually unappreciated and underpaid. I certainly don't have the patience to do what they do and most definitely wouldn't have a smile on my face if I had to. So yeah...good for her. I say she earned the right to tell a goober to stop being a shoe squreaking goober.