making the rules up as they go along

I really pretty much love Target.. like.. one of my children. Unconditionally. Even when the cashiers argue with me about what I'm buying and the coupons I'm trying to use. I've heard pretty much everything from them. But I'm not afraid to correct them when they don't know the coupon policy as well as I might. (Because, believe me, I've studied the ever updating coupon policy.)

I promise, I'm always very nice. I have no problem waiting while a manager is called or if they double check with someone else if they aren't sure about what they're doing. I don't mind pointing out the coupon "rules." I have patience for it.. it's fine. I don't huff and puff, I don't get aggressive or degrading with the employees, but, yesterday..? It was a new one.

Since I've had good luck lately with coupons, I got lulled into a false sense of security and stopped profiling cashiers before I picked a lane. But still, everything scanned fine (we had about 15 things) yesterday and I handed over my coupons.

The cashier took the coupons (store coupons, not manufacturer's), split the pile in two and started to scan a few. Then she shut off her light and a male Target employee immediately came over to her. (What?) She asked him whether or not she could even accept my coupons because some of them weren't in color.. and they had the same bar code numbers on them.

He looked at the pile of coupons on the counter, then up at me, and plainly said they couldn't take any of them. None. Because the ones that were the same coupons had the same bar code numbers on them. (No. Kidding.) And also they weren't printed in color. (Which had never been a problem before- including two days earlier at that very same Target.)

"The same coupons always have the same numbers," I told him nicely.

"No they don't."

"Yes, they do. These are Target store coupons."

"No they don't."

"Yes, that's how they print."

"No they don't. The last two number are always different."

"Is this something new? Because they've always printed with the same numbers before."

"No they don't."

(I swear to God..)

I'm pretty sure he would have stood there all day just saying "no they don't" to whatever I said.. even if I had the CEO of Target right next to me.

I just glared at him for a second. Then, I put on a big smile and said super nicely "Okay! Well, I don't want anything I had a coupon for then. None of it."

The cashier that caused this trouble in the first place had to unscan and unbag almost everything. I made sure she didn't miss a thing. Then she tried to shove the coupons in her register anyway until my husband saw her and told her to hand them back over to us.

There is a way my dad has of putting situations like this, wish I could remember it. Something about people that don't really have any power and aren't in charge of anything.. when you give them a tiny responsibility they go crazy with it and think they are in charge of everything and just make up new rules as they go along. (More than just "abuse of power," but like what kind of people they are.) That's what the whole situation was.

[Surprisingly, the woman behind me in line told me to just take them to another Target- that she had had a similar problem with a coupon of hers recently at that store, but she took it to another and it worked fine. (Right on coupon sister!)]

He was wrong. I was right. But, I chose not to waste my day hearing "no they don't" 400 times. You didn't phase me Mr. No-they-don't.. I have a 4 year old.. I'll be back tomorrow. With my coupons that may or may not be in color.


UPDATE: We went back a few days later with a lot of the same coupons (and more). I spotted a cashier I knew was coupon-friendly on the way in and kept him in mind for when we checked out. We had 25-30 things. Everything scanned fine, except two things that didn't have a price, so the cashier asked ME if I knew how much they were. I did, I told him, and he typed it in. Every coupon I had scanned just fine (including, "shockingly," the ones with the same bar code) AND he even asked my daughter if she would like a sticker. He wins.