Unfiltered Story #279575

(I worked at a pet shop for two months over the summer. While I was reasonably knowledgeable of where things in the store were, I didn’t know all of the exact products we carried. This happened after I’d worked there for a little longer than a month. A lady walked in and came straight up to the counter where I was waiting.)

Me: “Hi! How can I help you?”

Lady: “I’m looking for some play sand, for birds.”

Me: “Sure! I’m not entirely sure if we carry any sand other than that for fish and reptiles, but we can go down to the bird section and look?”

Lady: “Okay. It’s called play sand. [Popular Hardware Store] carry it, they call it play sand. It’s play sand, for birds.”

(We walk down to the bird section, which is right at the other end of the store. The whole way there she is telling me she wants play sand, for her bird. Once we get there, I look around and confirm that we indeed do not sell any bird sand. I tell her this, and we start to walk back up to the front.)

Lady: “It’s just play sand. It’s called play sand at [Popular Hardware Store]. It’s play sand, for birds. [Popular Hardware Store] call it play sand. It’s sand that birds play in, called play sand.”

(We reach the front and she tells me she’s disappointed about the lack of play sand (for birds) but that she wants to buy some other items from us. She walks off and comes back to me later where I check out her items. While doing so, she continues:)

Lady: “I was just looking for play sand, for my bird. It’s called play sand at [Popular Hardware Store], they have the play sand. I thought you guys would have some play sand. It’s called play sand.”

(She finally left, and I was left thinking two things: one, if she knew [Popular Hardware Store] carried it, why didn’t she go there? and two, if I had to hear the words ‘play sand’ one more time, I was going to pull my ears off!)