Burning Through Options
Years ago, working in an outdoor clothing/accessories shop, a woman came in and asked:
Customer: “I’m looking for something to keep my feet warm inside my boots.”
Me: “Let me show you our sock range—”
Customer: “—Not socks!”
Me: “Oh… do you mean like heated insoles? We don’t sell those but—”
Customer: “—Not those either!”
Me: “Well, then without socks as an option I don’t know what to suggest.
Customer: “You mean you don’t have anything?!”
Me: “What did you have in mind?”
Customer: “You’re supposed to tell me!”
Me: “Well, you could check out the one-use BBQs we have up front? Chuck a lump of burning coal in there with your feet and that should do the trick.”
Customer: “Do you think that’s funny?”
Me: “Trust me, I don’t think there’s anything funny about this conversation.”
She wouldn’t specify any type of product, just a warming solution that wasn’t socks. She left disgusted, and to this day I don’t know what she wanted me to suggest.
