Unfiltered Story #217651

Years ago I worked for my parents running one of our two discount book shops in a small town in the West Country region of England. I used to get a lot of ‘odd’ customers, but rarely any who were awful.

Being a book shop, we would occasionally get customers who were a little out of place, or perhaps not entirely comfortable. One particular customer stands out.

Woman: Do you have, like , a book that gives you words for other words?

Me: A Thesaurus?

Woman: No – don’t be flippant.

Me: Um… sorry. Not a Dictionary either, then?

Woman: (glaring) No…

Me: Well, here is the reference section madam. We have Dictionaries and Thesauruses, as I said, and books on English usage (showing her a few titles). Do any of these look like what you were after?

Woman: (huffing; frustrated) No. None of those.

Me: Are you sure it isn’t a Thesaurus? It really does sound like a Thesaurus. Maybe you’ve heard it called something different before? Would you like to flick through this one to be sure?

Woman: No. Nevermind. (Walks out)

Me: (calling after her, and genuinely un-sarcastically) Sorry! Bye!