The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-07-25
The Man Behind the Counter
Talks Of Lovely Women and
the World Of Graft

|
dress, and IL the cash is SO ahead Mt
the end of the day-well. we know that
she was right If not"
barely perceptible shrug. family
| humorous CLEAN of the ey., completed
the sentence for us. while we felt that
the circle of our horizon had suddenly
| expanded.
Our gossip threw a glance upward
| and backward, to the point where the
small girl with a dictatorial air Jug
gled in a leisurely manner with staEips
and bills and packages. her face as Ia
| different as Fate itself. 1t was ap-
parent that there would be plenty Of
time for further "reminiscences before
she delivered the goods"
That Is only one of their tricks,
| he resumed, as Patricia and l leaned
our elbows on the counter and struck
an attitude Of rapt attention that must
| have been vaguely suggestive of the
| cherubs in the "Sistine Madonna"
| That's only one of their lodges" he
| reiterated in a tone 50 monot onous
that it made us feel as if we were lis
| tening to the grievances of an auto
maton. Sometimes a lady will stand
| by as If she were eXamin ny pods,
while some other customer is buying.
| In reality she is watching carefully to
| hpd out what the customer is buying,
the amount of her purchase and the
| size of the bill given in payment, She
| is collecting working Information"
Then, perhaps, the customer will
| say that she is going to another coun-
| ter and will come back for her change.
| This Is the very chance our lady is
| waiting for. She hangs about. and as
| soon as she sees the change handed
| out she steps up to the clerk and says,
| I want my change
He says. How much did you give
me?' and she answers promptly and
| correctly, takes the chanse and walks
| off. a few minutes later the rightful
| owner of the change appears and de-
! mands it. And then
He paused. We half expected to
| hear a weird inward buzzing, as II our
| automaton were about to run down.
And then?' we echoed eagerly
| Then it Is up to the clerk" was the
| laconic reply.
He gazed at US. and in his eyes we
| fancied that we caught again the
CLEAN of inextinguishable humor at
these Crucial instances" of the weak
ness of the softer sex. Again he
| glanced upward and backward at the
small girl, who was running her end
| of the business according to her m
sweet will. Then he looked at US and
| seemed to find fresh inspiration.
| There are dozen ways" he began
again. Not long ago l had a game
| worked on me a little differently. 1t
| was the last half hour Of the day and
n lady came in and fought some silk,
| saying she would take it with her. She
| evidently chose that time, knowing
| that we clerks would be busy getting
our stock in order and so would not
pay much attention to the faces of
| customers"
| She waited about and finally got her
change and parcel and went away.
| About fifteen minutes later-just as
we were closing-she rushed up to the
counter again and demanded her par
eel and change. But l happened to re-
member giving it to her and told her
so.
You did not give it to me-" she
said indignantly.
| I certainly did, madam" answered
1. and the dispute was waxing hot
| when floorwalker TOUGHER her on the
arm. Here's the parcel you left on
| the counter over there, he said, and at
| the words and the sight of the identi-
| cal package that she was trying to
make me believe she had not received.
she turned without word and left
the store
But 1 don't see the point" muir
INJURED Patricia.
The Bargain Hunters Scheme,
the shoppee actually chuckled at our
dullness
The point" she explained. rs clear
enough when you have had the experi-
ence 1 have. In the hurry of the last
half hour she figured out that clerks
would not be paying much attention to
their customers and she thought she
might manage to get both goods and
change twice over by making a good
bluff.
She took her parcel. went to an
other counter and left it living there
Then, after bit, she returned and de-
manded 1t and her change for the sec
ond time trusting that she could blur
me into believing that had given
them to some one else instead of her
Don't you see? If the hoorwalker
had not appeared with the parcel when
he had happened to see her law unon
the other counter, the firm might have
given her the goods and change and
charged it to me. Then she would
have gone back, asked for the first
parcel and got of with her possessions
doubled. |
Even If detected-as she was-no
one could prove that it wasn't all a |
mistake, so she went scott free any,
way.
Nineteen" sang out the youthful
goddess who presides over the ultimate
destiny of shoppers, and our instructor
in the vagaries of our sex reached I'm |
ana got slim parcel and what looked |
IKE battered cartridge, from which |
ne extracts Patricia's change. and |
handing both over to her, dismissed us |
with courtly Thank you"