Pessimist Tales, volume 1, issue 1

here's the format:

What was the problem / jarring surprise / bad event?
What did I anticipate next?
What actually happened next?
Moral of the story.

Problem: The Tuscan Co milk with an expiration date of August 8 (sell in NYC by August 5), which I bought last night for the express purpose of having milk for coffee this morning, poured out chunky.

I anticipated: I would carry the milk back to the bodega and they would a) attempt intimidation, b) deny they sold me the milk, c) make me feel like a cheap schnook for nickel-and-diming them to death over such a low-profit-margin item, jeez lady.

Actually: The guy behind the counter immediately hit the "cash register open" when I walked in, pulling out my refund, and apologizing profusely: "the company, I don't know what went wrong. I know, I know, terrible." Another guy went into the case and got me a new one, saying "our refrigerator is good. this is terrible." And a third guy echoed, "that company, they wrong."

Moral of story: Sometimes people want to keep your business, and want to make nice. I like it when it happens.