I love shopping at CVS. It's my favorite drug store. Last night I was there buying a few cans of cat food and a 12-pack of beer. And sinus pills. CVS-brand sinus pills kick ass.
CVS uses one of those coupon systems where they scan your card and then dispense coupons with your receipt. In recent months, they have made a concerted effort to step up their customer service. One way the improved customer service manifests is that each customer is thanked by name and informed what coupons they are receiving that day.
Last night the clerk was a teenage male. He scanned my card, rang up my items, double-bagged my 12-pack of cheap beer. As he handed me my receipt he said "Thank you, Mrs. Last-Name-Mangled-Beyond-Recognition" and "You have a coupon for...." He stopped speaking, visibly paled, and blurted "Two dollars off! Your coupon is for two dollars off!"
Okay great. Two dollars off is good. But two dollars off what? He hadn't read what item the coupon was for, only the amount. I thanked him and took the receipt. (I keep all of my receipts. I enter them into the computer. I like keeping track of things. No, no. I love keeping track of things.) Before I tucked it into the pocket of my purse with the other receipts, I read that the coupon was indeed for two dollars off. Two dollars off my next purchase of Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons, 40 count.
That poor boy.
I recalled a trip to that same CVS when I actually was there to purchase tampons. This was back in the day when The Boy was in high school. Wendy and I volunteered many hours at the school and consequently we knew a bunch of the students. This particular day, one of the students I knew was the cashier. Oh goodie. I tried not to feel awkward, but didn't completely succeed. There's just something inherently uncomfortable about a friend of your teenage son handling your box of tampons, you know? The student merely smiled and said "Hello Mrs. Last-Name-Pronounced-Perfectly", rang up and bagged my tampons, chatting pleasantly the whole time.
A model of composure indeed.
1 comment:
I love this story, and I love CVS as well...although our Walgreen is open 24 hours, which trumps everything.
I had a writing student once mention in an essay that she'd gone to the drugstore on a "TNT run." "What's that?" I asked. "I had to buy Toothpaste 'N' Tampons!" she explained. Ever since, I secretly refer to emergency drugstore trips as "TNT runs."
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