Anecdote

I was at my friend's office in CV Raman Nagar. It was lunch time and we walked to Bagmane Park to grab a quick bite. "What do you wanna eat?" I asked Sirish. As his wont he said "Anything Sudhir". I responded as always with an irritated glare at him. Anyways, the place was teeming with people. And, odours from various joints in the food court were appealing and nauseating at the same time. I thumbed down the idea of eating from the Paramount. It was McDonalds at last - Sirish reluctantly agreed to eat a burger, as he hates bread for lunch or dinner. A sardar smiled sweetly - the contrast of his pearly whites against a jet black beard - at me as I tried to push my way through the serpantine queue. "Oh! I didn't notice there was a queue" I said sheepishly and stood behind him. 15 minutes and we were greeted by a still-chirpy girl. "One chicken happy meal, one medium fries, one mcveggie. Give me a coffee in place of coke" I told her. "That'd be Rs.182 Sir". I handed her a Rs.500 note and waited for the change and the food plate. She returned Rs. 218. "Is that 282?" I asked her. "Ah Sir..." and a pause later "It's 182 and I have given you 318 as change". "You've given me only 2 100-rupee notes lady". "Oh". I couldn't read her expression. I asked her again. My food arrived in the meanwhile and the change was still coming even as the girl went on attending to other customers' requests. After three repetitions with a resigned "here you're Sir" she gave me my correct change.

I gave her a benefit-of-doubt that it was NOT deliberate and it's possible that she thought that it was I who was trying to trick her! I normally would've given a mouthful and screamed at the counter-staff in such situations. It was a different experience today. Surely something that did NOT leave me all worked up! :)