Chutzpah

When Mr. Fixit and I walked into the donut shop, I didn’t pay particular attention to the woman in front of us who was ordering. I noticed that she was in her late 50’s or maybe her early 60’s and that she didn’t  have a pleasant look on her face as she walked over to a table.

Mr. Fixit ordered his coffee and I ordered a cup of tea and took a table not far from the woman. I was aware that she was there, but not much more.  She sat there a while with her coffee; I assumed that she was waiting for someone.

A few minutes later she returned to the counter and said she wanted to return the coffee. “I didn’t touch it. I bought it for someone who is not able to meet me,” she said. I was amazed. I had never seen anyone return a coffee.

The counter person didn’t know how to ring up the return. I guess she had never had a coffee returned.

A man standing in line waiting to order offered to take the coffee and pay her for it. The price of the coffee was $1.49. She agreed. The staff was still trying to decide how to process the return. The man gave her $2.00 and she turned around and walked out without giving him any change.

Not only did she return a $1.49 coffee, but she made money on the deal.  I wonder if she thanked the guy.

The young lady who served her the coffee sat beside us when she went on break. I asked her if anyone had ever returned coffee before. She said no and added that the woman had given her a hard time when she purchased the coffee. She saw three pots of coffee and didn’t want the one that was partially filled. She wanted to be served from the full pots. I might add that there were a number of people in and out buying coffee, so I know that the pot couldn’t have been sitting there that long.

Some people have a lot of nerve, but there are still some nice people in the world like the man who paid $2.00 for a $1.49 coffee with only a bemused look on his face and a small shake of his head.