Choosing which item you want - is it rude?

[Jennyhatesjazz0]

Today I was in a well known bakery (think steak bake - don't judge) treating myself to an apple danish.

I asked for it, then asked if I could have the second one along as the one nearest her looked a bit manky. She did it but exchanged a 'look' with her colleague next to her (rolled eyes etc...) I know I should have said something but chickened out.

I can only assume it was because I asked for a specific one - was that rude? As a customer, paying for an item, shouldn't I be able to choose which item I want?!

Not rude. Eminently sensible.

I Don't think it's rude, like you say you are paying for it so why shouldn't you have the one that appeals the most.

Well that all depends on if you said out loud that the other one looked manky!

I got the same in the same shop asking for a specific pain au chocolat. Not rude, unless you actually said that one looks a bit manky.

Definitely didn't say it looked manky!!!

Tweet them.

Not rude at all. I do this all the time, and I tell the staff in a polite way why I'm being fussy. I usually say, "sorry, I know it seems fussy, but that one has more cream on it/isn't burnt etc."

No, not at all rude. And IME, the sales person will often ask which one you would like, or point to one and ask 'This one?' - whether it be a cake or something else.

The sales assistant in your case was rude.

You weren't rude. She was rude if she rolled her eyes.

I often do the same as you.

You are the paying customer - if isn't rude if you point to the one you want and ask nicely with a smile and a thank you.

This reminds me of a face off I had in Tesco deli. I saw a nice side of beef with some fatty slices next to it. I asked for 5 slices 'off the beef' and she went to pick up the slices from the pile. I said 'cut off the beef please' and she was like 'it's the same'. I insisted and got my beef but she had a right face on about it.

Could she have been rolling her eyes because there's an obviously manky one that they know they won't be able to sell?

Your the customer and the one paying. It's not making the person serving you do a harder job picking up the second one is it? Employee was rude with her eye roll, you did nothing wrong.

In the village bakery here I often ask for the gingerbread with the yellow smartie things for dd or the cake at the back etc becuase it looks like it has more cream. They are nothing but polite

I used to work where I think you mean and we used to get rid of the colder ones that had been left out longer before selling the hot ones, but of course you were within your right to choose the better one.

Not rude at all. At our local bakery they ask "is this one ok?" if you don't point to the exact one you want

I used to work at G the Bakers and this is entirely normal behaviour. Most people picked their cake / pasty and most times were asked if fhey wanted a particular one.

Are you sure they were giving a look?

I don't think you were rude, I think it's normal.
But then I do it too.
Even on the fish counter at the supermarket, I pick which piece I want.

The majority of food places work on a FIFO policy (first in, first out), so they can get in trouble for not giving it you in the correct order.

Also, even if someone ate most of something and came back complaining about it, we still had to exchange it for a better one. Any burnt or broken items had to go in the bin.

The server was rude, you were sensible!

I will always ask for the item I prefer the look of. I don't think it's rude at all.

No. I would ask for the one I wanted and if I got any cheek I would say something. You are entitled to do so!

Maybe everyone else had refused that one before you hence the eye rolling, still rude though, but that seems normal these days.

I lived in Germany for a while and with my mighty fine grasp of O level German asked for "the bread that isn't hard". What I meant was something that wasn't dunkelbrot ie heavy, but whatever I said was rather rude and implied I was asking for bread that wasn't stale.