I was on my way home from work yesterday and found myself developing a splitting headache. I get these sometimes, due to various parts of my medical history, and have to deal with them as soon as I realise they are coming, or I end up being effectively deaf for the pounding in my ears (I literally cannot hear people talking) and unable to move properly. Not much fun. I have tablets to prevent these headaches when I feel them coming, but realised I had no liquid in my water bottle by which to take them. I needed to get something--anything--to drink, and quickly.
There was a cafe only a few metres away, so in I went. There was one person only working there: a middle-aged lady who was drying glasses behind the counter, right next to the register. I walked up to the register and say "hello," but she just kept wiping the glasses. I figured she was probably going to finish the one she was on so she could put it down to reply, but no. She finished it and went on to the next glass. There were dozens of glasses left, and after six minutes (I was watching the clock behind her), I realised she probably intended to do all of them. I took a bottle of water from the fridge and tried again: "hello, I'd like to buy this." Ignored again. Finally (time was running out and soon my head would mean that I would not be able to even have a conversation with her at all anymore) I simply said, "I am trying to give you business and money, but you clearly don't want it." Rude, yes, I know, but we were approaching crisis here. She looked up, sighed dramatically, placed the glasses down noisily (causing me to stumble backwards in pain from the noise) and said "I wasn't doing nothing, you know!" and stood there glaring at me. I put money in front of her (I have no idea how much, it was hard to tell at this point), mumbled a sarcastic apology for making her do her job, and swallowed the pills on the spot.
I had to sit down for 15 or 20 minutes while my head sorted itself out, and unfortunately the only place I could get to was a chair in her shop. If she had actually let me buy the water when I had come in, I probably wouldn't have needed the recuperation period. She probably thought I was a druggie, and for all I know, tells people of the rude druggie woman who came in that one time.