Liquor Store Diary: Can You Spot Me?

Sometimes people come in to the liquor store and want to buy something they don't have money for.

"Hey bro, I'm short ten cents for that blunt. Can you spot me?"
"No."
"Oh ok."

This is when they crane their neck toward my tip cup. They look at me to see if I am watching. I am always watching. At this point in our transaction, I tell them that this is my money, not theirs. I am forced to be at least cordial to customers, at this point they are not customers because they can't afford anything. There are two courses of action: throw them out, or wait for them to go their car to find ten cents.

Either way I feel like I am the loser of this scenario.

Why would anyone go to a store and expect the clerk to pay for their stuff? It happens a lot and makes me wonder what the fuck is wrong with Americans. It hardly ever happens for liquor. It almost always blunts and cigarettes.

There is a difference between covering a penny and giving someone thirty cents . I don't mind the penny too much because even when you add them all up, I still really haven't lost any money. I usually make it back in tips. I will never cover thirty cents because that is pretty substantial. One of the biggest reasons a person people ask me for money is that they don't want to use their debit card.

Today a customer started to argue over how much a pack of cigarettes costs. He claimed there was a discount on the new Marlboro Special Blend. There is no discount and I told him this.

"Yeah there is, it's a dollar off."
"No, there is no discount at all."

The man became very agitated with me and then he became enraged when I rang up the cigarettes to show him that they are still as expensive as ever. There isn't a feeling of satisfaction I get from proving customers wrong or gloating when someone can't afford something. It just makes me upset when people start to ask me for money. The whole reason I am selling them anything is because I need money to live.