Monday 28 April 2008

Are you being served?


I stopped by the bakery on a sudden urge to have a lamington. For any overseas readers, a lamington is a peculiarly popular Australian cake of such vulgarity that no self respecting European patisserie would care to even check the recipe. Needless to say I am sufficiently vulgar to be addicted to lamingtons.



There was a male/female couple and one other man already in the bakery on my arrival with only the one person attending to us. I waited patiently as the couple were made and served their coffees and a cake each, at which point they departed the store. Then I continued to wait patiently as the other man purchased four different types of pies and four different types of tarts. Whilst the man paid for his purchase another male/female couple entered the store and to my surprise the shop attendant moved to serve them next.

Apparently I was invisible to the attendant and to the recently arrived couple who did not bother to check whether I was standing there waiting to be served.

In years gone by I was so meek that I would have said nothing but times have changed. In the most arch tone I could muster I called out "Excuse me". The couple realising what had happened were appropriately contrite but the store attendant seemed quite taken aback. She apparently had no awareness of what was happening on the customer side of the counter.

I had only intended to purchase a single lamington when I entered the shop but I settled my fit of pique by purchasing three lamingtons, two apple slices and a loaf of bread. I doubt, though, whether I will feel I got even once I step back on the scales.

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