19 November 2009

'Tis the Season: Part 1

The holiday season is upon us, more or less, with frayed nerves and odd behavior making an early appearance.  So far this holiday season we've had:
  • someone call and ask for the Cartoon Bible (actually, they wanted the R. Crumb Book of Genesis)
  • a mom whip out a travelling potty chair in the middle of the children's section of the store and seat her bare-bottomed child on it (I am not even remotely kidding - she did this at least twice before she got the hint that she should take her child to the bathroom)
  • a phone customer who asked for a book by "that tired old hag" ("that tired old hag" turned out to be Sarah Palin; I'm not a Palin fan, but that's pretty mean)
  • a very funny pair of moms ask me if The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would be over their heads (nope, I don't think so, and I sold them a boat-load of books for their kids, too)
  • a very worried customer double-check that we had a copy of Stephen King's Under the Dome on reserve for her in case we ran out (I wish we would have a run on a well-written book for once, le sigh)
  • an undergrad ask me to explain his homework assignment (sorry, dude - I am not even remotely responsible for any part of your homework just because I know who Eleanor of Aquitaine is without having to look it up)
and (because I think freak-outs are unneccessary this early in the season)
  • some lady freak-out on me - while I was helping another customer with Curious George books - and demand that I show her the Warriors "magma" series RIGHT NOW (there is no "magma" series, she needed the "manga" series and my customer was very nice about letting me get those "magma" books for the freak-out lady)
There're at least six weeks left in the holiday season so stay tuned for more strange behavior as the big day approaches!

2 comments:

  1. I'm sorry, but I'm rolling on the floor after reading "that tired old hag" bit! Not a big fan of Palin. So glad I don't work in retail, although "technically" I do since I'm a retail merchandiser, but at least I don't work for the store I'm working in so I can avoid any drama (hopefully)!

    Good luck...I have a feeling it's only going to get worse! But of course you already knew that! =o)

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  2. I'm with Michelle on this one, the Palin comment still has me chuckling. I love retail this time of year (sarcasm) and can't wait to hear some more stories.

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