Fish Nazi at LFS

Dangerdoll said:
hehehe, Leo.... you been talking to Lila? ;):D;)

Nope. I'm an English teacher. It's my job to do those sorts of things:D The OED is one of my bestest friends. :clap:
 
To me it sounds like the kid was just doing the best job he could and you acted like a jerk because he didn't know what an awesome fish keeper you were. Coming from someone who has worked in retail, it's not a bad idea to think about the person on the other side of the counter before you throw a fit about this sort of thing.
 
Midas-n-Titus said:
To me it sounds like the kid was just doing the best job he could and you acted like a jerk because he didn't know what an awesome fish keeper you were. Coming from someone who has worked in retail, it's not a bad idea to think about the person on the other side of the counter before you throw a fit about this sort of thing.

I'm 37 years old and don't respond well, at all, to people half my age patronizing me and showing attitude. If you have a point to prove there had better be facts and experience backing it up or I assume I am correct. Aquarob gave him plenty of opportunity to rise above his attitude. Read below.....

NG: What fish do you have in there?
Me: Community fish. Dont worry, I have schools of both these fish, just adding to them.
NG: Right, but what kind of fish do you have in there besides the tetras?
Me: 4 corydoras, 4 Oto's, and 4 Celebes Rainbows.
NG: Pick something else.
Me: What?...
NG: Tetras dont go with Rainbows, they are semi-agressive.
Me: Umm, no, its cool man. I have had neons in there with them a long time, and I havent seen any aggression. Its cool.
NG: Pick something else, please.

In a bad mood or not, this conversation had run its course and had been plenty sugar-coated for a guy to guy exchange. At this point, the kid deserved his verbal beat down. He's a man, he has a pair, so he can take it. I doubt he's going to curl up into a ball and be scared of all future customers. He also has a brain, so hopefully he now understands that he's going to encounter people with more knowledge than him and should respect them. He should also understand that not everyone is going to sugar coat their deliverance of knowledge and coddle him like he is a baby.
 
NG: What fish do you have in there?
Me: Community fish. Dont worry, I have schools of both these fish, just adding to them.
NG: Right, but what kind of fish do you have in there besides the tetras?
Me: 4 corydoras, 4 Oto's, and 4 Celebes Rainbows.
NG: Pick something else.
Me: What?...
NG: Tetras dont go with Rainbows, they are semi-agressive
Had I been in a pissy mood and the conversation gone that way with the kid I was talking to at Petsmart, then right about here is where I would have gone postal on the guy :)

Hrm. No, first I would have erupted in hysterical laughter. THEN I would have gone postal on his butt :D

Roan
 
aquarob said:
Wow, good responses. Yup, I was in a bad mood. Probably should have educated him, but, he was rude and I had a headache. Bad combo. Anyways, thanks for all your input. I've decided to go back tomorrow and find out who he was and the next time he works. I will go have another chat with him about our little incident last week and see if he's interested in being educated. :idea:
That's awesome, rob!! You rock, indeed ;)

Leopardess said:
Nope. I'm an English teacher. It's my job to do those sorts of things:D The OED is one of my bestest friends. :clap:
atta-girl, Leo ;)
 
ljse said:
Everyone knows that flies are spawned from meat. :D
Or, when there is a runner in scoring position, the bat of Corey Patterson ... :thud: (Sorry, obligatory baseball remark with spring training in progress)
 
well just to chime in with my $0.02, ;) that was a good story. My take on the conversation is that the kid was trying to do the right thing, but didn't really make a good case for it. realistically if he had doubts on how your fish would interact he should have said something like "have you been keeping tetras and rainbows together a long time?" to which you would have obviously said "oh yeah" and then he could have left it at that with a simple "cool" or "ok" and bagged up the fish. Refusing to sell them wasn't the way to handle it .

Personally I wouldn't have gotten quite as in the kid's face about it, but then I'm kind of non-confrontational ;)
 
What if ...

Perhaps the conversation could have gone this way instead ...

LFS employee: What fish do you have in there?
Aquarob: Community fish. Dont worry, I have schools of both these fish, just adding to them.
LFS employee: Right, but what kind of fish do you have in there besides the tetras?
Aquarob: 4 corydoras, 4 Oto's, and 4 Celebes Rainbows.
LFS employee: (waving fingers) These are not the fish you are looking for.
Aquarob: What?...
LFS employee: (waving fingers) These are not the fish you are looking for.
Aquarob: These are not the fish I'm looking for.
LFS employee: (sending text message to friends) dude jedi mind trick totally worked
Aquarob: Seriously, junior, gimme the fish or I'll start a thread about you on AquariaCentral.
LFS employee: D'oh!
LFS manager: And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids.

:joke:
 
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