It was bad enough that two employees were talking on the sales floor while people all around them went unserved, but it was their discussion was what put it over the top.

(I share the story only to illustrate the types of discussions that should not be held on the sales floor.)

The first employee was asking the second one how they had been.  The first employee then went on to describe that flu that she had suffered through.  She said that several times when she ran to the bathroom she could not decide whether she should bend over or sit down as “it was coming out of both ends!”  I expected the other employee to be a bit put off by such a topic on the sales floor within ear shot of customers.

But I was wrong.  She simply responded that she had managed to avoid the flu herself.  She added that she was glad that the flu shot was working for her.

This set the first employee off on a completely different track.

“Don’t tell me that you get a flu shot?  That is so stupid. Not only do vaccines not work, they have been linked to autism and other health issues.” This from a woman who apparently had spent recent days hugging the bowl.

At that point, I found what I was looking for and was on my way.

You would think that sales associates would know enough to not talk about bodily functions and conspiracy theories on the sales floor.  But I am wrong.  I would like to think that it might be a failure of management or of training but in this case, I would have to blame their parents.