Saturday, June 18, 2005|
Yesterday I darted into the copy shop to send a fax. I sent the two pages, for which I was to be charged two dollars. I remembered too late that I was not carrying change, or any means to pay. "I am so sorry this happened," I told the girl behind the counter. "I want you to know I'm not a bad customer. This was a simple oversight, and I will return in the next few days with the money." I would guess the girl was in her late teens. The name on her employee badge was foreign, and she looked Vietnamese or Cambodian. The whole time I was talking, her somber expression never flickered. I worried she might not understand English. We looked at each other a moment more, my hoping for some acknowledgement. Then, still poker-faced, the clerk turned to her colleague, and said in perfect English, "Mike, call 911."
I was thrown, to put it mildly, by the sardonic humor. I smiled for the rest of the day. |
Last update: 12/12/05; 6:57:46 PM .
