"Paul M. Cook" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
> ...
>> If this isn't the most absurd situation I've seen
>> in a checkout line, it's close. Maybe it ties with
>> the kid who threw the phoniest temper tantrum I've
>> ever seen in front of a doormat mother who obviously
>> lost control of her kid when he was very young.
>>
>> There were two Chinese women in front of me, an
>> elderly one and a middle-aged one. The younger one
>> was translating for the older one, and as it turned
>> out, she didn't know her. She just volunteered to
>> translate, because the older woman didn't speak
>> any English at all.
>>
>> As I stood there and learned more of the story,
>> it appeared the older woman was trying to return
>> a watch battery. She had the original packaging
>> for the battery, and the watch that the battery
>> was put into, but the problem was that the battery
>> was inside the watch. Nobody knew how to get the
>> battery out of the watch, and the clerk didn't want
>> to give a refund without getting the battery back.
>>
>> Fortunately, the clerk rang up my bottle of beer
>> and can of olives while the women were making their
>> case for a refund. I don't know how it was resolved,
>> but I did give the poor clerk a smile in sympathy
>> with her dilemma.
>
> Standing in checkout lines seems to be getting worse all the time. I have
> seen stuff like this where a person holds up a line forever with endless
> demands from the clerk. I wonder sometimes if this isn't the only
> attention they ever get in their lives.

It's childish to jump to the conclusion that anyone who "kicks up a fuss" is
"just looking for attention." It's simplistic even when applied to the
behaviour of most children. What it's motivated by is self-centredness on
the part of the person *speaking*, not the person "looking for attention;
because the person speaking only sees the way someone else is affecting him,
which is to inconvenience him, and gives no thought to what the other
person's situation or perspective might be. I find if you bother to take the
slightest interest in people, their behaviour often makes sense.