Scene: An Eckerds in Greenpoint on Friday night. A man brings a 12-pack of Heineken to the register, along with a "$13.99 Sale!" sign he had ripped off the shelf. The lady at the register peers at the sale sign. "Do you see the date on this? It says starting April 20. Today is April 11," she says, gratingly. "Well it was on the shelf, and why would you put it up nine days early? You shouldn't put it up if that's not the price!" replies the guy, angrily. She denies him; he acts pissy, argues, finally slams down his debit card and pays, leaving in a huff. On one hand, they shouldn't put up the sale sign early. On the other hand, dude clearly knew it wasn't on sale yet, and brought the sign up just for the sake of making a scene. The lady at the register was kind of rude, though. But she was probably tired after a day at her crappy job, and didn't feel like dealing with Johnny Heineken and his beer purchasing hissy fit. Who was right? Ultimately, I couldn't bring myself to support either side.

Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at .