Cassie had just about finished her shift at Pawbucks. It's been rough today. The young golden-furred lioness dealt with a long line of demanding customers who all had complaints about this or that from their orders. And soon she gets to go home and rest her aching paws. That is, until her manager comes out from the back.
A customer, a small middle-aged sheep, was raising a stink. First, the sheep replied to her order not the way she wanted it, so she made Cassie craft the coffee drink again. Then she complained that Cassie spelled her name wrong, even though names on cups are phonetic and not literal. And then to top it all off, Cassie ended her customer conversation with ``Happy Holidays,'' and that was the absolute last straw. The sheep gasps and rages against Cassie.
Greg, an alpaca in his fifties, seems to glide out of the back office of the Pawbucks, where he seems to hide most of the time to avoid most of the work, and steps in before Cassie can even begin to defend herself. He immediately capitulates to the unruly customer and calms the sheep down by blaming Cassie's young age. ``Now, now, Cassie, apologize to the customer. The customer is always right. And tell her `Merry Christmas'''
Cassie looks to Greg incredulously, ``But Greg. I couldn't- ``and Greg was having none of it. ``Be a team player, Cassie. Now.'' The level of veiled passive-aggressive threat in Greg's voice made Cassie's fur stand on end. Not wanting to lose this job, she complies. ``Er.. S-sorry, Ma'am,'' Cassie directs at the fuming sheep woman, ``Merry Christmas.''
