To have laughed out loud at this retail worker

[Shmee1988]

Today I went to a highstreet branch for some painkillers. I asked the lady behind the counter if they had some cocodomol. She said 'yes, we have our normal cocodomol and our max strength'. I asked if I was allowed to come and read the box and she said no (behind the counter so fair enough) I then asked if she could please explain the difference between the 2, I obviously meant the difference in strength in the active ingredient. Her honest to God, genuine response was 'yes of course, this one is our max strength version...... and this one ....is not'😂I was so taken aback by the utter ridiculousness of her explanation that I had no idea to respond, I just laughed. Anyone had anything similar or did I just encounter a particularly unknowlegable retail worker ?

OP you are back pedalling here faster than a cyclist in the velodrome

The problem is it says you laughed at them rather than with them. I am surprised an English graduate of your calibre can’t see the difference between those scenarios and descriptions.

They didn't make a mistake, they gave me a funny answer and it made me laugh, out loud. I dont understand how laughing at someone when they say something funny, is rude. It was a 'well that was onviois' kind of laugh with the assistant, not a 'I'm laughing in your face because you're stupid' kind of laugh.

😂😂

Thats true but Boots pharmacy counter staff have a LOT of training

@Shmee1988 "would that of been less rude"

Would that HAVE been less rude.

No matter how many times you're corrected, you still make the exact same mistake.

I'm not, she said something stupid and it was funny. It made me laugh out loud. I despair at the people who don't think my question was fairly obvious.

Of course it's not obvious what the difference is and it's perfectly reasonable to expect that your question would have been interpreted as wanting to know what's actually in the tablets.

what does max strength mean though? Some paracetamol says max strength and they’ve mixed it with caffiene which doesn’t agree with me. I’d expect someone to say it has caffiene / other ingredient / greater amount of paracetamol per tablet or more codiene.

You aren’t doing anything here to make you seem less mean. Now her answer was “stupid “

Yes, that's what doesn't make sense to me, either..

It was stupid and I make no apologies for thinking as much. It was the fact it was so silly that made me laugh.... out loud.

Laughing at someone (as per your thread title) is very different to laughing with someone.

Would you like it if your child's teacher or classmates laughed at them?

Oh come on!

OP, I think you're getting a hard time here. 'what's the difference ' is a pretty standard question in response to the what the assistant had just said, it's fairly obvious you were wanting to know the difference in the codeine strength.

Laughing can be offensive yes. If you laugh at someone because they misunderstood you it can be rude and condescending, depending on the delivery and the look on your face. My mum used to laugh in a way that would make my blood pressure rise because it was done in a patronising way.

Exactly.

If you wanted to know the difference of the active ingredients specifically that’s what you should have said.

She was probably wondering how to get away in a hurry after you asked to go behind the counter. How odd.

She didn't make a mistake. If she'd of given me incorrect information then that would have been a mistake. She just pointed to one box and read it's name and did the same with the other. That did not in any way answer what I asked, therefore it was funny. It was a silly thing to say but not a mistake. If she'd of tried to give me the info I needed and got it wrong, of course I'd not have laughed.

She's getting a hard time because she laughed at a retail worker who misunderstood something.

There was no need to laugh at her.
Just clarify what you meant. It's really not that hard.

It's actually not odd, in this particular store. As I previously stated, the serving areas are islands, one for perfume, one for cosmetics and one for medicine. The medicine one is in the middle. To the left and to the right, customers are able to wander behind to look at the boxes etc. I asked if it was allowed because I wasn't sure as it's medication. I honestly did assume that asking what the difference between the 2 products is, was a simple enough question

Haven't read the full thread but just incase nobody has answered this yet Boots own brand is 8/500 and boots max strength is 12.5/500. Not sure how much caffeine, if any, is in the max strength but it's definitely a bit stronger.

She didn't misunderstand. She just didn't know the answer and said the first thing that popped into her head, rather than doing the expected thing and reading the box.

Thank you !!😀

I would answer the question as the retail worker did too. I am autistic, and that answer would have made perfect sense to me. For you then to laugh would make me feel like I had done something wrong, and would have had a major impact on me for the rest of the day.
If you wanted a more specific answer, then you need to be more specific in how you ask it.

Poor retail worker was probably thrown off guard by weird customer wanting to join her behind the counter with the prescription drugs and was possibly keeping an half an eye out for security whilst answering your question. Imagine your bursting into laughter for no apparent reason did little to reassure her that you were of sound mind.