Customer: “I need a book for my nephew.”

Me: “Okay, what does he like to read?”

Customer: “Books.”

Me: “Congratulations, you’re in a bookstore! We might need to narrow it down a little. How old is he? Do you know what books he’s enjoyed before?”

Customer: “Look, I’m gonna be real with you. I haven’t read a book since high school. I’m too busy to read nerdy little books. The girl I’m with thinks it’s cute that I’m an uncle, so I need to go to his birthday party and give him a book to look good. What have you got?”

Me: “Let me bring you to our ‘awful uncles who buy books for their nephews just so they can get laid’ section.”

Customer: “For real?”

Me: “No, sir. That was a joke.”

Customer: “Whatever. This one looks big. Woo, lots of words. I’ll get this one.”

Me: “That’s a Bible, sir.”

Customer: “Is it good?”

Me: “I suddenly believe that you haven’t read a book since high school.”

Customer: *Smiling like this is a flex* “Yes, boiiiiii!”

We settled on him getting a gift card for his nephew, who I suddenly felt very sorry for — along with this guy’s date.

Yesterday, my workplace had a large Halloween event, and our staff was encouraged to dress up for the day. I scrounged up a fairly recognizable Jedi costume from the contents of my closet and borrowed a lightsaber — the cheap kind that you swing out while pulling on the release mechanism.

It was a long day with short breaks throughout. Six hours in, I got a table with three little kids, all dressed up: a six-year-old girl in a princess dress, a five-year-old boy in a turtle costume, and a two-year-old cowboy who inexplicably carried a massive plastic gold sword. (I’m guessing at the ages.) The older kids belonged to one couple who were regulars, and the littlest was with his mom.

At one point, I went back to check on them, and the little cowboy picked up his sword from the table and waved it at me. I know a challenge when I see one, so I pulled out my lightsaber and extended it. His eyes lit up, and he jumped from his chair to fight me. The five-year-old wanted in on the action and began to walk toward me like a droid, saying, “Roger, roger. Roger, roger.”

I gave them (and the whole dining room, including their grandparents, who were also regulars) a show and let them back me into a corner as we clashed swords. Then, I fell to the floor, threw up my hands, and clutched my stomach as they slew me. I closed my lightsaber as I “died”.

The two-year-old proceeded to take it from my hand and attempt to extend it, but he clearly had no idea how.

Me: *Regretfully* “You can’t use it without the force.” *Takes the lightsaber back* “I need this to fight Sith.”

Honestly, that interaction was the highlight of my twelve-hour day. The dad of the older kids tried to apologize a few minutes later, and I assured him it was not necessary. It’s things like this that make the messes kids leave behind a little more bearable.

I work in a video game store that does trades. A young boy, maybe around twelve or so, comes in with a stack of old games.

Boy: “How much can I get for these? I’m trying to get the new Mario game.”

Me: “Well, the Pokémon game here might get you something, but all these others I can only give a few cents for. If you had the boxes, I might be able to offer more.”

Boy: “Oh… I see. Thank you for your time.”

The boy politely stacks up his games and is about to leave when an older gentleman, maybe late sixties at a guess, comes rushing over.

Old Man: *Excitedly* “Is that Pokémon HeartGold?

Boy: “Uh… yeah.”

Old Man: “Excellent! I have SoulSilver! I needed that to pair with it!”

Boy: “Is it for your grandson?”

Old Man: *Mock-offended* “No, my young friend! It’s for me!“

Boy: “You play Pokémon?!”

Old Man: “Since 1996!”

Boy: “Whoooooa! But… you didn’t stop when you got… old?”

Old Man: “Let me give you some advice that has served me well. You don’t stop playing because you get old; you get old because you stop playing.”

Boy: “Whoooooa!”

Old Man: “Play forever, young man!” *To me* “How much is the Mario game he wants?”

Me: “It’s $59.99.”

Old Man: *To the boy* “I’ll give you sixty for the game.”

The old man handed over the cash (after I had tested that the game worked), and the boy excitedly got his new game. I will never forget that man’s amazing advice, from one generation of gamer to another.

A customer is checking out our travel luggage.

Customer: “I’m going away for two weeks! What do you recommend?”

Me: “Oh, that’s a good amount of time! Where are you going?”

Customer: “The Vulcan.”

Me: “Excuse me?”

Customer: “The Vulcan.”

Me: “I… don’t think I know where that is.”

Customer: “You know! The Vulcan! It’s…”

The customer stops himself for a moment and runs the word through his brain.

Customer: “The Balkans. I’m going to The Balkans.”

I was eventually able to help him choose some luggage suitable for his trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia, and not Spock’s home planet!

I work at a coffee shop where we were allowed to decorate our name tags with stickers if we wanted. I decorated mine with Pokémon stickers. A man comes up to my register to place an order and his eyes light up when he sees my stickers.

Customer: “Do you play any of the games?”

I excitedly tell him about all the games I own, that I collect the cards, etc. And in turn, he tells me about his successful hunt for a shiny Ponyta. While we chat about our favorite pocket monsters, I draw a tiny Pikachu on the lid of his cup and hand it to him.

Me: “Thanks for the great conversation!”

I watch him walk out the doors and get into his car. He looks down at his cup as he is putting it in the drink holder and his face explodes into smiles and laughter. He runs back to the doors so he can make eye contact with me, while excitedly pointing at his cup. It made both our days!