Breaking Peter To Fix Paul

(I work as a cashier at an electronics retailer. A customer walks up with a computer lapdesk that opens up so it can store small items. Normally, two clips hold these shut.)

Customer: “Excuse me, one of the two clips is broken off.”

Me: “Oh geez, I’m sorry! Do you wanna grab another one that’s not defective?”

Customer: “Sure…” *leaves the broken lapdesk with me*

(I give the broken one to a fellow cashier so they can take it back to the service desk and defect it out. Several minutes later, the customer returns.)

Customer: *holding a new lapdesk* “Hey! Where’s the other lapdesk?”

Me: “Oh, I gave it to customer service because it was defective. We can ring this up now—”

Customer: “But I need the first one!

Me: “Wait… why?”

Customer: *holds up a lapdesk clip* “I broke one off the new one to put on the old one!”