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Golden shopping moments...

To my ever growing list of dislikes - no, hates - you can now add uppity shop assistants. It never ceases to amaze me that people whose intellectual capacity and career revolve around serving others, can possibly have bad attitudes - but they are out there folks.

There I was bowling along happily in my own senile-to-be way and my great-great-great grandson felt like having an icecream. In the shopping centre was a big-name chain ice-cream kiosk and so I ordered a child's-size cone.

Okay, so far nothing extraordinary. But what came next was both amusing and, when you think about it, appalling at the same time.

Back came this cone, with sprinkles, containing a lump of icecream about half the size of an eggcup. No joke.

Okay, no drama, how much? $1.60!?

Stunned - in fact near speechless - and anyone who has read this column for a while will know just how miraculous that is.

$1.60 for half an eggcup of icecream!!

When I'd recovered my senses I forked over the dosh with a genial "gee, that's worth more than gold".

The sour little miss mulled over what had been said and quick as a flash (read 30 seconds of rubber-burning smells emitting from her blonde head) said: "Well, you don't have to buy here again do you."

A courageous response, I thought, as she clearly didn't like the job, or need it.

So, making sure I noted which kiosk it was - I'd hate to slag off a more innocent icecream purveyor - I retorted: "You are absolutely right" and walked off.

Now there could be many reasons why Miss Two Braincells reacted the way she did. My comment could well have been the 30th complaint she'd had that minute, or else it had finally struck her that each child's cone was worth more than her hourly rate of pay.

Whatever the reason, she - and all other shop/kiosk assistants - should realise a couple of things. Firstly, if your wares are excessively expensive for what you provide you have to expect a reaction from the public.

And, let's be subtle, for $1.60 you can buy one third of a large container of high-quality icecream - not half an eggcup.

Secondly, the reason you are shop/kiosk assistants is because you clearly can't get any other sort of job. And, if you think people look down on you because of the way you earn your pathetic pay - you're right, we do.

If there is something that has really got up your nose, let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com