A Screeching Halt

A few years back I was standing in line to return an item at customer service. There were 3-4 people in front of me, and an elderly man who looked to be in his 70’s was attempting to return a pair of jeans. The customer service woman pulled the jeans out of the bag, held them up, the back of the jeans to the witnessing crowd. She started to ask, “Is there anything wrong with them?” But she only got half way through the sentence when she stopped dead in her tracks. She said, “Sir, you can’t return these, they’ve been worn.” Back and forth the argument goes between the woman and the old man, the man swearing he didn’t wear the. During which time, the woman has put the jeans down and has turned an unhealthy shade of white. Finally the woman agreed to take the jeans back, most likely to get rid of the guy. No tags, so she had to scan the fabric tag on the inside of the pants (note that she turns a shade of green now, having to touch the pants again). We all stood in anxious wonder as to what the problem was. After returning the man’s money, he leaves and she breathes a sigh of relief. She can’t help herself, she holds the jeans up to show all the spectators. Inside the jeans was the longest, widest, brownest skidmark I’d ever seen.