Are you friendly & polite or rude & impatient?

Paris, Feb 15 (DPA) Everyone bar a saint can recall being curt with a supermarket checkout girl at some point, but after reading a new best-selling book in France, many a customer might think twice about being unfriendly to the woman behind the counter.

In her book 'Les tribulations d'une caissière' (The Trials of a Checkout Girl) Anna Sam, 28, dissects typical supermarket users, including many familiar types. Her critical eye registers the notorious moaners and the bargain hunters along with the shop-until-you-drop types and of course, the pleasant customers who do mind their manners.

The book has already sold 100,000 copies in France and is set to be published in English later this year.

Since the hilarious memoir appeared in France, the number of people being self-consciously friendly and polite at the cash till has apparently increased. 'I get lots of e-mails and letters from customers who thank me for having opened their eyes to what it is like,' said Sam.


Sam's 170-page book is aimed at potentially bad-tempered or impatient shoppers and she hopes that these will refrain in future from asking such inane questions as 'Are you open?' to which the answer can only be: 'I'm not, but the cash till is.'
Edit: lol dave s, who are you trying to fool?! That must have been done to you during your stint at McDonalds!