Not 'exceptional'

So about a week ago I had an interview for a part time job at a used bookstore. I thought I had aced the interview. The interviewer was a few Simmons Alumni, I have worked in bookstores before, and knew enough to answer ‘what do you do when the store is empty?’ with “ First I clean up, then I do other chores that might have been overlooked when we’re busy and finally, get to know the product/ inventory better.”
I was told that I was the first interview and as such I was ‘setting the bar’ for all the interviewers after me. So, again, I thought the interview went well. My mother suggested on Tuesday that I call them, just to make sure they know how interested I was. Sadly I was busy working on Wednesday, cleaning on Thursday, and I left to go with my older brother to go to the Cape on Friday…. Calling them was in the back of my mind but I felt that I had a really solid interview and that I would call them today.

So, after being with family on Friday and Saturday, I came back to Boston to work at the game store on Sunday. So I was dead tired when I listened to my messages on Sunday, I had gotten a call from the used bookstore on Friday afternoon. The manager mentioned that he had just interviewed someone who was exceptional (his word not mine) and hired them on the spot. He went on a bit more saying that as such the job was filled. But it really bothered me and took a little bit more of my ego to hear him refer to someone else as exceptional.
Yes, I’ve felt that I would prefer the interview process was a bit more honest and that people tell me why they’re hiring someone else instead of me- more experience, thinner( my parents are very big on fat people not getting hired), or just nicer… But how do I try to compete with someone who’s exceptional?

*sigh*