A lot of time has passed since 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell made his first occasional phone call, and now, according to the most conservative estimates, there are approximately 15 billion phones in the world, from the latest iPhone 15 to half-fossil disk dinosaurs. Considering that the world’s population is about 8 billion now, then there are almost two phones per person. And where there are phones, there are conversations.

We spend a significant part of our day talking on the phone, and it’s no wonder that sometimes we miss something important in this life. Or we irritate other people with our continuous talks, as a result of which we get some petty, but no less offensive revenge. Just like in this story from the user u/vince_003.

The author of the post worked as a pharmacy cashier around 7 years ago

Image credits: Tbel Abuseridze (not the actual photo) 

Due to the staff instructions, the cashier was supposed to loudly tell some information to all the customers approaching the register

Image credits: u/vince_003

However, many people, being on the phone while purchasing, just gestured towards the author, silencing them

Image credits: Patrick Pierre (not the actual photo) 

Image credits: u/vince_003

This seemed very rude and disrespectful to the cashier, so they made up their own revenge plan

Image credits: Nathaniel Yeo (not the actual photo) 

Image credits: u/vince_003

According to the plan, almost every phone-addicted customer had to pay for the second time for the plastic bag

About seven years ago or so, the Original Poster (OP) worked as a cashier at a pharmacy and, according to job scripts, had to tell every customer who approached their register a certain set of phrases. Well, you yourself know everything perfectly well: say hello, ask if all purchases have been made, check for the presence of a fidelity card, and so on… And say it in a fairly loud voice.

Of course, many customers came to the pharmacy while talking on the phone. Of course, many of them would not hang up when choosing the medications they needed and whatnot. Of course, the loud voice of the cashier asking standard questions distracted them from the conversation. And, of course, many immediately gestured to the original poster to remain silent.

Not all of us have an angelic character, so it is not surprising that sometimes customers’ gestures felt rude and disrespectful to the author of the post. However, what could they do in this situation? Absolutely nothing. Although, wait, they could still do something!

The fact is that in the city where the OP lives, in all stores and pharmacies, plastic bags are not given out free of charge, but cost 5 cents. This is a minor detail, but customers should also be warned about this. And, according to the script for staff, this information comes at the very end. And almost always, the OP did not reach these words at all.

Therefore, the situation usually looked like this. The client, continuing to talk on the phone, paid for their purchases, then looked at the OP in surprise and, distracted from the conversation, irritably asked why they didn’t bag their purchases. And here came the author’s finest hour – they silently pointed their finger at a small notice where the price of a plastic bag was indicated.

Then one of two things happened – either the shopper, literally cursing, reached into their pocket again for their wallet, or nervously grabbed their stuff and ran out of the pharmacy, continuing to talk on the phone, probably complaining to an invisible interlocutor about stupid pharmacy rules. However, the original poster did not care about complaints at such moments – they felt almost happy.

Image credits: Marco Verch Proofessional Photographer (not the actual photo) 

It’s interesting to see if our attitudes towards using mobile phones in public places change over time. For example, according to the results of a survey by Pew Research conducted in 2015 – that is, around the same time when the events in this tale unfolded – 26% of respondents considered it unacceptable to talk on the phone while waiting in line. Today, the opinions of most commenters clearly show how public opinion is changing.

Almost all the people in the comments praised the OP for such a small, but at the same time sophisticated plan of revenge towards rude customers, or just those we’re considering to be rude at the present time. Moreover, according to some comments, in many establishments there are now some notices explicitly asking customers to first finish their phone talk, and only then go pay for their purchases.

However, this does not in the least prevent people from completely neglecting these recommendations, and many stories also told by folks in the comments only confirm this fact. On the other hand, I am almost glad that such entitledness on the part of customers is always met with instant karma. At least in the stories told here… By the way, if you also came across something similar in your life, why not share your own story in the comments below?

Most people in the comments just praised the author for being so smart and witty, and also shared lots of their own stories about customers being on the phone

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