Points To Ponder
After all of the flailing of arms, gnashing of teeth and sanctimonious verbal pontification has subsided I believe that you will realize that you have done absolutely nothing but harm our cause.
While I agree that the employee NEEDS to know what she did wrong there is a right way and a wrong way to TEACH her this.
Do you really want to be the one responsible for her disdain of gun owners?
Do you really want to be the one she thinks of when she looks at a gun or another customer?
Or would you rather be thoiught of as the nice, learned person who HELPED her?
How do you know what the manager did or did not tell her to do? It is quite possible he por she DID attempt to teach this girl proper handling. But as we should all know, sometimes the excitement of having a new job can cause you to "forget" things. If she had be properly instructed, (and the key word here is properly, since most stores today give the bare minimum of training) then I for one, would rather be thought of as the customer who was understanding enough to help her remember. Perhaps she will then be calmer the next time and get it right.
However if you are the one who shouts, belittles and generally embarasses her, (and you could quite possibly cost her her job) the next time she has a customer she might be even more nervous and could schmuck up even more.
After talking with her to make sure she understood how serious this is i would then make a decision of whether to talk to the manager or not. If I thought that she had either not been properly trained or had mearly forgotten in her enthusiasm, I might not say anything negative to the manager.
If, however, she has an "I don't know and i don't really care, you can't tell me anything, I'm only here for the paycheck attitude." THEN I would ask for the manager and explain it all politely with both of them present.
After all it's much much better to make friends in the firearms community that to alieniate someone.
After all, the day may come when you want a btter deal on something in that store.
And who do you think will get that better deal? The nice guy who is always ready to share their knowledge or the guy who rants, raves and appears to be a jerk?
Just something to think about.
I already know which person I am.