My husband was at Walgreens yesterday. When he was checking out he paid with his debit card and the machine asked if he wanted cash back. He typed in $10, then asked the cashier, "Can I have two fives?" The cashier replied, "You mean 'MAY I have two fives?" My husband was completely floored and just stood there and she eventually gave him the money. Obviously the cashier was technically correct, as its true that my hubby should have said "may I" and "please," but it was very impolite. I think my husband should have given the cashier a lesson on the acceptability of colloquial expressions, but I know this would not have been proper. The bigger question is how do you respond politely to a person who is outright rude? How polite do you need to be back to the person?
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