Refusing an Atheist Cashier August 28, 2009

Refusing an Atheist Cashier

By Guest Contributor
August 28, 2009

The ending to this exchange is priceless:

Me: “That will be 17.50, please.”

Customer: “Are you a Christian, dear?”

Me: “Why do you ask?”

Customer: “Are you?”

Me: “Well, no. Why do you want to know?”

Customer: “Oh. I would like to be helped by someone else, please.”

And this happened in the Netherlands!? I wonder what this scene would look like in America…

(via Not Always Right — Thanks to Becky for the link!)

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What Are Your Thoughts?leave a comment

  • I saw that – I read Not Always Right every day. But after a moment’s thought I decided that the customer was probably a scammer pretending to be a christian to deflect suspicion, not an actual christian hypocrite.

    The story just makes more sense when you read it that way.

  • Ron in Houston

    That’s not cocaine residue on your money – it’s the scent of the devil…

  • Whoa! That actually happened? Too funny!

  • Charles in Seattle

    As an american who lived in the netherlands for a year, I can say it’s a very misunderstood country. The Randstaad region (made up of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague) is really the only “open” part of the country.

    This happened in Maastricht, which is in the south, and very catholic.

    Dutch culture is somewhat of a contradiction, very permissive, but also very judgemental.

  • AJ

    Hemant, please don’t share anything from “Not Always Right” anymore. I’m not sure that website even takes actual submissions. It’s all made-up drivel. I had it in my Google Reader for a while and finally had to take it out because basically every single entry was so obviously fiction.

  • Turrboenvy

    @AJ,

    I like to think it’s some real, some embellished, and some fictitious. My “favorite” is the one where they were kicking someone out of the store, the would-be customer said “this is madness!” and in a theatrical flourish, the employee said “Madness? This is SPARTA!” and literally kicked the offender out. I’m sure that was real. Absolutely.

  • I occasionally get this on the telephone at work.

    “You sound like a good Christian boy.”

    “Actually, ma’am, I’m an atheist.”

    *click*

    @AJ: I can verify some of their early submissions, at least, are factual. Some of them came from my call centre.

  • Teresa

    Even if it is real, it’s pretty obvious that the old lady only refused the cashier for a chance at stealing the candy.

  • Jon

    @AJ – Even though Hemant claims to be an intellectual, he doesn’t seem to evaluate the truth or fiction of much before he posts things.

    But it doesn’t provide amusement and we get to comment on it, which seems to be his overarching goal.

  • ATL-Apostate

    @AJ – Even though Hemant claims to be an intellectual, he doesn’t seem to evaluate the truth or fiction of much before he posts things.

    @Jon – Damn, that’s a bit harsh. If you’ll notice, he filed it under “Humor, General.” To me that means Hemant thinks it is funny, and that’s about it. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the blog, man. One of the things I appreciate most about The Friendly Atheist is that it IS intellectual, but also silly at times.

    Don’t change a thing, Hemant. Well, you could put more picgures of ZOMGitsCriss up if you wanted, but other than that, don’t change.

    peace.

  • littlejohn

    Jon: I’m very confused by your post.
    You say Hemant claims to be an intellectual, but he doesn’t provide amusement.
    I would see that if Hemant claimed to be a comedian, but when did intellectuals shoulder the burden of amusing us?
    And did Hemant acually claim to be an intellectual? He strikes me as more modest than that.
    Can you clarify your point? Just wondering.

  • nomad

    Okay, picture this. Woman in second story window of building completely engulfed in flames to fireman at the top of a ladder attempting to rescue her:

    “Are you a Christian, dear?”

  • Amy G

    omg I want to think that this is a real story after reading the entire conversation. Priceless.

  • Jaysen

    I can totally believe this happens. I worked in a local call center for years and we occasionally had someone who would call in and ask if our company was ran by Christians. Or someone would ask if they were talking to a Christian, and if they said no they would ask to talk to a Christian.

  • zoo

    *with littlejohn*

    Besides, Jon, why does it have to be true? It’s meant to be funny, not some great lesson. Great lessons can come from fiction anyway. If he were outraged or something (though that wouldn’t be very Friendly) I could almost see your point.

  • Snuggly Buffalo

    AJ, you’ve never worked in retail, have you?

  • Damn, I was almost ready to convert to Christianity but all the trolling comments by Jon put me back in the atheist column. 😉

  • medussa

    Jon,
    as I’ve explained to you before: Hemant, his blog, and the discussions here are not designed for your entertainment. For that, you should turn to the Disney Channel, or Fox News.

    If you have nothing constructive to add, go away. Why are you wasting your time on reading a blog where you are not being entertained and feel that you should be?

    @Hemant: Love the post, especially the ending, thx. I don’t really care if it’s true in the details.
    As Snuggly Buffalo clearly understands, truth is stranger than fiction sometimes, and a story like this just illustrates that. I HAVE worked in retail, as well as in the sex industry, as well as in emergency services, and yes, I had a woman try to refuse medical service from me because I wouldn’t pray with her before treating her gunshot wound. This sh*t happens.

  • TheLoneIguana

    I take a lot of that site with a grain of salt, but I worked in a retail computer store long enough to not immediately dismiss the stories as fiction. Truth is stranger and all that. And there are some strange people out there.

  • I know that the plural of anecdote isn’t data, but I know way too many people who work in retail and call centres who have actually had posts accepted at that site in the past 12 months.

    Is it really easier to invent new posts when there’s already plenty of insanity that doesn’t need invention? Which is the more likely scenario?

  • The Other Tom

    I wonder what this scene would look like in America…

    Customer: “Are you a christian, dear?”
    Me: “I’m not permitted to discuss my personal life with customers.”
    Customer: “I’m not sure I like your attitude.”
    Me: “I’ll get the manager for you. Next customer please!”

  • John

    Don’t feed the troll, people.

  • Ron in Houston

    Don’t feed the troll, people.

    Yeah, “John” (with an “h”) has it right “Jon” seems to be a theistic troll. He first surfaced over in this post about no Religious Displays this year in Washington.

    He keeps wanting to create the false dichotomy about Hemant not being an “intellectual.”

    Hemant has a great sense of irony. Heck, “I sold my soul on Ebay” – man – talk about irony.

  • I wonder what this scene would look like in America.

    Customer: “Are you a Christian, dear?”
    Cashier: “No, this is Patrick.”

    …/spongebob reference

  • Chris

    I don’t think that’s a real exchange. Seems fictional.

  • Miko

    Okay, picture this. Woman in second story window of building completely engulfed in flames to fireman at the top of a ladder attempting to rescue her:

    “Are you a Christian, dear?”

    And then the fireman responded, “Sorry, but I can’t rescue you until you put your hijab back on.”

  • The ending certainly is priceless.

  • Jen

    I am going to call fake, if only because that’s not how I have ever been trained to handle shoplifting.

    That said, people love to steal and don’t feel guilty about it. And I knew a customer back in the day that would bring my coworker in rosaries. So… maybe. But I never had a customer ask me a question about my religion, and I have had some pretty nuts customers.

  • Becky

    Yikes Hemant, I won’t be sharing any more ‘Not Always Right’ links anymore, methinks. I personally think this happened, for the same reason as LoneIguana.

  • ChameleonDave

    Hemant, I don’t think you should be posting stuff that may be real and may be a joke. Stuff that is definitely one or the other is preferable, so it can be discussed in the proper way.

  • DeafAtheist

    If that was me I’d point down at an empty lane and empty register and say, “See that register over there? Jesus himself is tending that one.”

  • Remko

    This happened in Maastricht, which is in the south, and very catholic.

    Dutch culture is somewhat of a contradiction, very permissive, but also very judgemental.

    Euh, as a native Dutchman, let me add, the judgmental idiots here tend to be the Calvinists, the Roman Catholics in the Netherlands tend to be much more mellow (sadly the last two reactionary popes have stuffed the clergy with their own lackeys as of late)

    We too have a bible belt running from east to west through the country, Maastricht is not in it.

    B.t.w. I read this just today at ‘Not always right’ and …. I’m astounded this is purported to have happened in Maastricht, the whole exchange all sounds so …. subservient …. so … american 🙂
    I’m sure a Dutch clerk just would have started to laugh his/her head off, and told her to buzz off.

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