So, I'm sitting here at my desk, and the "Lady in Accounting" who shall be called Lia wandered up and shared this gem from the weekend.
The scene: My company buys and sells just about anything we can lay our hands on. One of the places we sell is at specialized swap meets. One of those swap meets was this past Saturday. The owner, manager, and lackey #1 were all in attendance, as usual, and Lia went because she is married to the manager and enjoys helping out.
The players:
Lia - the lady in accounting
Pita - the idiot looking at the widgets
Widgets - one of the many items we were selling
It's still early in the morning, and the rest of the crew has gone wandering to check out what other sellers have in case the boss wants to buy some undiscovered gem. It sometimes happens. It also sometimes happens that he buys back things we sold earlier in the day. *shrug*
Pita comes up to the table and starts checking out the widgets. The widgets are electronic devices that have at least one component that could come loose inside, and at least some internal wiring and come in extruded-plastic casings. Other than that, I have no idea what they are or what they look like. We sell them for $3 each.
He picks up the first widget. He shakes it. Hard. He puts it down. He then proceeds to go down the line of widgets and does the same exact thing to every single one of them. Every. Single. One.
He finally finishes with that and holds one up. "This one's broken. Something's loose inside." He gives it another good shake. "You can hear it rattling."
Lia thinks, with all that shaking it's no wonder something's come loose, you idiot. She remains silent.
Pita finally finds one of the widgets that meets his standards, but before the sale can commence, he gets a look of dismay on his face. "Oh, no, this things dangerous!" He holds out the widget. "It's got a wire sticking out, that things sharp!"
At this point, a random buyer who happened to be wandering by adds his two cents, "That's probably just plastic left over from the extrusion process," and goes on his merry way.
Before Lia can confirm that it is, indeed, essentially just extra plastic, he shakes his head, "Oh, no, this thing's dangerous. I'm not going to buy something that's dangerous."
He dumps the poor widget back on the table and departs. Lia is not at all sad to see him go. Curious, she picks up the widget and starts fiddling with the plastic and confirms to herself that it is a bit on the sharp side.
The rest of the crew returns to the spot and she discusses it with them, sharing the saga of Pita in the process. A knife is procured and the plastic is cut away, proving that Pita was, indeed, a PITA.
And so, the rest of the day goes as it usually does until after the show has actually closed for the day. As they're packing everything up and getting everything into the van, who should come running but Pita himself.
"I've changed my mind. I'm going to get a widget." He doesn't wait for a response, but goes for the case that holds the widgets, having recognized it from that morning. Then, rather than just grabbing the first widget he sees, he starts shaking them. Again. One by one.
Lia is valiantly resisting grabbing his throat and doing some shaking herself.
Pita finally finds one that meets with his approval and holds it up. "How much?" he asks.
"$3," he's told, at which point he opens up his wallet, exposing a single $20 and a single $1.
Now, anyone who does swap meets or any sort of show where you sell things from a table knows that you start the day with a certain amount of change. You have to, because customers won't have any at the start of the day. But by the end of the day (if you haven't tanked), you have usually amassed a large amount of change that you no longer need or want.
Lia speaks up, "Oh, we can make change, no problem," she tells him.
"Oh, no," he says, "I don't want to do it like that." He then puts his wallet away, including both bills, and digs out a handful of change from his pocket.
Lia is >< this far from just refusing to sell to him at all and going home. But she's tired and doesn't really have the energy to fight with him over his change.
He finally counts out the $3, mostly in pennies and nickels, with a few dimes for variety and hands it over, leaving with his widget.
Lia turns to the boss. "It's not right to main our customers, is it?" she asks.
He gives her a grave look and answers solemnly, "Oh, it would be very wrong to maim this customer. No, the right thing to do would be to kill him outright and bury his body out in the desert."
^-.-^
The scene: My company buys and sells just about anything we can lay our hands on. One of the places we sell is at specialized swap meets. One of those swap meets was this past Saturday. The owner, manager, and lackey #1 were all in attendance, as usual, and Lia went because she is married to the manager and enjoys helping out.
The players:
Lia - the lady in accounting
Pita - the idiot looking at the widgets
Widgets - one of the many items we were selling
It's still early in the morning, and the rest of the crew has gone wandering to check out what other sellers have in case the boss wants to buy some undiscovered gem. It sometimes happens. It also sometimes happens that he buys back things we sold earlier in the day. *shrug*
Pita comes up to the table and starts checking out the widgets. The widgets are electronic devices that have at least one component that could come loose inside, and at least some internal wiring and come in extruded-plastic casings. Other than that, I have no idea what they are or what they look like. We sell them for $3 each.
He picks up the first widget. He shakes it. Hard. He puts it down. He then proceeds to go down the line of widgets and does the same exact thing to every single one of them. Every. Single. One.
He finally finishes with that and holds one up. "This one's broken. Something's loose inside." He gives it another good shake. "You can hear it rattling."
Lia thinks, with all that shaking it's no wonder something's come loose, you idiot. She remains silent.
Pita finally finds one of the widgets that meets his standards, but before the sale can commence, he gets a look of dismay on his face. "Oh, no, this things dangerous!" He holds out the widget. "It's got a wire sticking out, that things sharp!"
At this point, a random buyer who happened to be wandering by adds his two cents, "That's probably just plastic left over from the extrusion process," and goes on his merry way.
Before Lia can confirm that it is, indeed, essentially just extra plastic, he shakes his head, "Oh, no, this thing's dangerous. I'm not going to buy something that's dangerous."
He dumps the poor widget back on the table and departs. Lia is not at all sad to see him go. Curious, she picks up the widget and starts fiddling with the plastic and confirms to herself that it is a bit on the sharp side.
The rest of the crew returns to the spot and she discusses it with them, sharing the saga of Pita in the process. A knife is procured and the plastic is cut away, proving that Pita was, indeed, a PITA.
And so, the rest of the day goes as it usually does until after the show has actually closed for the day. As they're packing everything up and getting everything into the van, who should come running but Pita himself.
"I've changed my mind. I'm going to get a widget." He doesn't wait for a response, but goes for the case that holds the widgets, having recognized it from that morning. Then, rather than just grabbing the first widget he sees, he starts shaking them. Again. One by one.
Lia is valiantly resisting grabbing his throat and doing some shaking herself.
Pita finally finds one that meets with his approval and holds it up. "How much?" he asks.
"$3," he's told, at which point he opens up his wallet, exposing a single $20 and a single $1.
Now, anyone who does swap meets or any sort of show where you sell things from a table knows that you start the day with a certain amount of change. You have to, because customers won't have any at the start of the day. But by the end of the day (if you haven't tanked), you have usually amassed a large amount of change that you no longer need or want.
Lia speaks up, "Oh, we can make change, no problem," she tells him.
"Oh, no," he says, "I don't want to do it like that." He then puts his wallet away, including both bills, and digs out a handful of change from his pocket.
Lia is >< this far from just refusing to sell to him at all and going home. But she's tired and doesn't really have the energy to fight with him over his change.
He finally counts out the $3, mostly in pennies and nickels, with a few dimes for variety and hands it over, leaving with his widget.
Lia turns to the boss. "It's not right to main our customers, is it?" she asks.
He gives her a grave look and answers solemnly, "Oh, it would be very wrong to maim this customer. No, the right thing to do would be to kill him outright and bury his body out in the desert."
^-.-^
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