Posted on 01/24/2013 6:23:56 PM PST by FoxPro
I have lived in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for the past 5 years.
I drove down to Huntsville, Alabama to work on some software, with a friend of mine.
I have never been to the "deep South".
I have been here for 24 hours.
It is really a bit of a culture shock after spending a day sorting things out, here.
Everybody is "Yes Sir" and "No Sir" with people differing to you with "Am I in your way?" and "Can I help you find something?"
Well, this is exactly what happened to me today.
I sat down to get to work, on my computer and the battery in my mouse dies.
I move my mouse and the arrow is just there, not moving.
It always happens at the worst of times.
So I drive down to Kroger's grocery store, walk in, stand there, trying to figure out if I should turn left or right, in my hunt for the "Battery Center".
Well this very large man walks up to me, he is wearing a Kroger badge and below his name it says "Manager".
He intones "Can I help you?"
I said, a bit jaded "Yes, I need ONE AA battery, but I know I will have to buy a 12 pack, but that's just the way things go."
He motions me over to a check stand, grabs a 4 pack of AA batteries, tears it open, pulls out one battery, hands it to me and says "Merry Christmas."
I am stunned...
DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS WOULD EVER HAPPEN ANYWHERE IN LOS ANGELES? Really?
The guy made my day and it is a seemingly small gesture, I will never forget.
But this guy knows I will probably spend $100 or more, at this Kroger's, in the next few months, than I would have otherwise.
He knows that this small act of kindness will be recouped many times over in the near future.
This gentleman knows all about not being "Penny wise and pound foolish."
I think I will like being an Alabamian.
Shrinkage!!!!!!!!!!!
Explain, please..
I’ve in in California, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia and then moved to Alabama.
I thought it was the end of the world - my life was over.
Within 10 minutes I was absolutely taken by the friendly people, the nice villages and small shops - and the Piggly Wiggly !
20 years later . . . I still love Alabama !
Years ago I stopped one night to help an old man/woman broken down on a bad stretch of interstate that was under construction.
After getting them taken care of the old man pulled out his wallet and tried to pay me.
I declined and told him my parents were approaching his age and I hoped that if they ever found themselves in the same situation someone would do the same for them.
Welcome!
Your post reminded me of the time my family was exiled to NJ from Texas for a couple of years.
On the first day of school my sister said “Yes Mam” to the teacher who indignantly replied “I’m not your Mam!”
“The gist of it, I dont care to deal with East Coast people especailly with their entitlement mentality and having to constantly have to be very careful in how I dealt with them since almost anything can set them off and they demand to talk to your manager.”
I work for an investment firm with its HQ in the Midwest. A number of our branch offices are in the Northeast. Many Northasterners are just l,ike you described. They like to push their way around but when you push back, they become defensive and nasty.
Are you near Two Egg, or the Woodruff Dam?
So if I go to a rental car agency in Dallas, and I know my DL#, I just say the number and there is no need to produce a DL?
LOL!
...she’s cracking....
I deal with vendors all over the country and despise having to deal with the ones from NJ so much that I delegate those to someone else.
I fit right in, because I never trusted anyone to begin with.
No, that is Steve Sutherland’s district.
I am around 40-50 miles West of Two Egg, close to the Walton/Holmes County line. Also not too far from Alabama.
Well, she ain’t told Pa yet, so don’t say anything. When he gets out he won’t be happy about havin’ another kid...
It’s loss or a shortage. When something in a store, goes bad...and has to be thrown out. e.g. bananas, all black and funky....might get reduced [shrinkage] or thrown out...or given to a pig farmer.
An opened pack, like the batteries, could possibly be returned to the vendor for a credit...or deducted from a new invoice. FWIW, this manager was stealing from the owner of the store. But obviously, the good will he created was worth it. Unless the *manager* paid for the batts out of his own pocket, or owned them, his was employee theft.
Not if you’re from California.
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