Really?

I don't like rude people. I don't like walking into a store and being treated badly. I don't think anyone does.

Today I went into two stores and had two very different experiences. One, a very pleasant one, and the other not so much.

Bath and body works caught my eye as I was leaving the mall so I decided to stop and see if there was anything I liked. They were all so friendly to me, offering me free samples of lotion, asking me if I needed assistence, or a shopping bag. I could tell it was genuine. I picked out a few items and when the cashier was ringing up my purchases he made sure to tell me that I could get a few more items and it would make everything cheaper. 3 for $10, 5 for $5. Yes, I ended up spending more than I initially planned, but I left the store with a smile on my face, and quite happy with my purchases.

The second store was a frum store in Crown Heights. I am not trying to bad-mouth Crown Heights, or make generalizations in any way. But in my opinion, it seems that frum people think they can get away with being rude and unmannerly, solely because they are frum. Whoever said frum people don't need manners? I was always taught to be polite and respectful.

I walked into a store to buy candy. I had $3.00 to spend. (Yes that sounds like a child, but that way you only buy 3 dollars worth of candy, as opposed to whatever you have in your wallet.) I looked around trying to decide what to get. My friend pointed to a sign that said there was a sale on organic candies. "Wow they are so cheap, only 89 cents." I took a closer look. No, that can't be right. The sign is wrong. Upon closer inspection this is what it said: (And ya I can take pictures now from my super cool phone.)

$.089. That does not mean 89 cents. For anyone who knows math, it means 8 cents, or rather 9 cents if you round it up. So I thought, hey an opportunity to make a statement and play a joke.

I walked up to the counter with the candy ready to pay and said to the cashier, this is 8 cents. She said no it's 89 cents. I said look at the sign. She looks and says, it's a mistake. (And yes looking at it now I see it says 'not responsible for typographical errors'. It's a good thing they put that disclaimer.) She said wait I'll get my manager.

By this time my friends were laughing and saying really, you are not gonna let this go? But I was having too much fun.

The 'manager' comes. (It's in quotes cuz I'm not sure he was really the manager.) He says what is the problem. I explain to him that the sign says 8 cents, and he should give me the candy for 8 cents. I thought he would recognize the joke for what it was. He says, it was a mistake. I said if this was Target they would have given it to me for 8 cents. (They advertise right when you walk into the store that if there is an error in price they will give it to you for the lower price.) He says, and I quote, "I thought you were smarter than that."

I'm thinking, that's rude, and you don't know me. He tells me he's not giving it to me for 8 cents, and maybe I can make a hobby of this. (And he had the nerve to try to tell me that .089 was not even a number and meant it was zero. ME. I know my math. If it was .0089 then yes he would have a point.) He said good night. And that was it.

I walk out of the store annoyed. I didn't buy anything. I hadn't wanted the candy in the first place, I was just trying to make a point, and thought it would get a good laugh. But some people can't take a joke.

If you were the manager, how would you have reacted? I figure he could have humored me and given it for 8 cents. It's only an 81 cent difference. Or he could have politely said, sorry ma'am that was our mistake, but we can't give it to you for that price. Anything, other than sarcastically telling me I am 'smarter than that'. There is a way to talk to a customer, and then there is not.

It just strikes me in general the professional demeanor found in the 'secular world', and the lack of it here in the frum community. It bothers me a lot. I like and would rather shop at non-Jewish stores, even go out of my way because I feel more comfortable there, more like a person, and treated much nicer.

And like I said, maybe I am generalizing though I am trying not to. But 'frum' should not be synonymous with 'rude' and 'do whatever you want because we are protected by our frumkeit'.