You know what's jacked?

As I returned to the customer for a third time, I told him, "It's sixty-one dollars and change, thirty percent off compared to it's original price of eighty-seven."

"That's still jacked," was the gentleman's response to the price not being as low as he was truly wanting. I handed him the hundred-foot spool of high-end home theater speaker wire all the while biting my tongue.

The response that had been stewing in my head was somewhere along the lines of: "You know what's really jacked, sir? The fact that you're more concerned about being forced to spend a hundred dollar gift card before you really wanted to, on speaker wire that you don't believe is cheap enough, while there are forty plus employees that work here who will be out of a job in less than six weeks. Friends and co-workers alike who, unlike you, have to worry about how they're going to provide for themselves as well as their families. People that I care about who have to put food on the table every night. Instead you choose to ramble on about your discontent and how you have to spend a gift card on merchandise that is not pleasing enough to your pocket book."

Over the course the past week, I've had to repeat the same story about the company's collapse, why things aren't cheaper right now, or why we can't accept returns past a certain date so much, that my jaw has had signs of fatigue. My mouth dries and my brain begins to throb when someone, who was apparently reluctant to shop here during the holidays, but is more than inclined to buy more crap they don't need at 10% off, asks the question: "So, when does the store close?"

I reply with, "March 17th, if we still have product to sell. It's all dependant upon that one factor."

"Oh, okay. Cool!" is their response as they waltz out the front door with their small bag filled with hideously bad movies that they were able to get at a stellar 20% off the sticker price.

Now I know that they don't necessarily mean that it's "cool" that approximately 34,000 people will be losing their jobs by the end of March, but could their responses be anymore insincere? I understand that the slang that they spoke was really meant as an "okay, thanks for letting me know" but it sure doesn't feel like it. Instead, everytime I hear that one specific acknowlegement, it's grates on my nerves like fingernails to a chalkboard.