I discovered a new craft store while out of town that I fell in love with until I got to the checkout lane. I did not realize that in order to make a purchase anywhere in this part of town you have to either state your age or admit you are over 21. I'm not kidding!
I brought five skeins of hunter green yarn, a set of bamboo double pointed needles and a couple of knitting magazines to the front and was promptly asked if I was 21. Not quite understanding the clerk, I looked at the screen which displayed everything I was purchasing. The register monitors were up high, in plain view to everyone in line behind me. I assumed he was telling me how much I owed. Wow, that was some kind of sale! So I double-checked and asked, "My purchase is $21?"
He laughed and shook his head, "No, are you twenty-one?"
I looked at my husband who snorted, but he's not 21 either, and I said, "Uh, no...kinda over that, why?"
"I'm just trying to give you a discount."
"For what?"
Suddenly the clerk got embarrassed and began shoving my purchase into bags, "For being over 21. Did you put in your payment?"
I stopped everything and stared hard at him, "It's finished, I pulled my card out already."
He dropped a skein of yarn on the floor and quickly picked it up putting it in yet another bag, "Okay then, here you go."
"You mean I got a discount for being over 21? Why?" I
stood there not moving.
"It's you know, the senior discount."
"Why did you think I was a senior?" Now I was baiting him because everyone who knows me or even sees me knows I have a head full of long silver hair that most likely makes it easy to guess I'm not twenty-one, but I'm also not over sixty either, the usual senior discount age and I have never been asked this question in our hometown or for that matter been given a senior discount. And I sure wasn't going to start now.
By this time my husband is almost doubled over in laughter as were the people standing in line behind us. The clerk began to stammer, "No, you just have that mature, wise look to you."
Oh brother, mister you are getting yourself in deep now. "You mean my gray hair gave my age away?"
Panic was welling up in his eyes as he tried to laugh it off, "People dye their hair to get it to look like yours."
That was it, I grabbed my bags, shoved my receipt into my purse and walked out of the store. So much for that fun time. We hurried to the car in the rain and headed to a nearby fast food restaurant to grab some food.
"Seriously?" I squawked to my husband? I cannot believe that!"
He just laughed, "He was just trying to be nice and give you a discount."
"But I don't want a discount! I can pay for this, I'm not retired yet!"
We drove to the restaurant and ran through the rain. They were not busy so we had time to stand and figure out what we wanted. Walking up to the cashier, I put in my order as did my husband. He pulled out his wallet only to find he was two dollars short. "Can you spare me a couple of dollars?" he asked me. We do this all the time, we split our cash when going out of town and he had already spent most of his.
"Sure," I grabbed my wallet and began to pull out some cash when the cashier who had heard my husband ask me for extra cash, interrupted, "No you guys are fine, I gave you a discount."
"A discount? For what?" I asked my eyebrows which are not as gray as my hair is raised.
"A VIP discount. Here is the new total." The machine read exactly two dollars less than it had just a minute ago.
"I don't understand, what discount..." My husband quickly grabbed our drink cups and number and pushed me along to the drink dispenser before I could start fuming.
"Again? What is the deal with everyone thinking I'm a senior citizen up here? I'm not even sixty yet! I'm going to pull out my license and show that young man!"
"No you're not, let's find a place to sit down, Granny!"
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