This is just a quick little field report that I thought I'd share. Occam and I went out to buy groceries together, and at the check-out he asked the female cashier for two bags. As we're packing the items, I tell him that I can get everything packed with just those two bags. Right after that Occam says to the cashier: "I'll take another one, I'm bad at listening." in a joking tone.
Without missing a beat, she (the cashier) turns to me and says "Most men are" with a bit of a snicker (she clearly expects me to nod in agreement and/or make a dig at Occam as well).
I smile and say "He actually makes better decisions than I do."
At that point, she tries to back-track and change what she initially mean. "Oh! I was just kidding!" (her voice is higher pitched now, and her laugh sounds nervous).
Occam loads the bags in the cart and I simply tell the the cashier to have a good day as we head to the door.
Normally I don't step in when someone tries to undercut Occam, because he's fully capable of handling things himself. The reason I did so in this case is simply because the woman directed her comment at me specifically. She expected me to side with her because it's socially acceptable to rib on men publicly (I've never heard of an instance where a male employee has 'bantered' in a negative way towards a woman when she's out with her SO). She was anticipating a "team woman" moment, and when I defied her expectations, she immediately tried to recover as best she could.
I will say that it doesn't matter at all whether or not /u/occamsusername actually makes better decisions than I do - in that moment, my motivation was to clearly and decisively send a message to this employee that her 'joke' wasn't appreciated. I simply don't understand why an employee at any establishment would think it's acceptable to insult a customer simply because he's male and happens to be with an SO/wife.
I hope the cashier thinks twice about trying to make unwarranted 'jabs' at customers in the future because of her exchange with me, but even if she doesn't, Occam was still impressed with my initiative (I'm very quiet and don't normally say anything other than the 'basics' in situations like that ("hello, how are you," "thank you," and "have a good day" etc).
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[–] MildlyOffensive ago
Upvoat for you!