Got Any Longer Attention Spans In The Back?

We get customers who ask if we have items in the store; we often check our computer for inventory amounts. We are in the middle of a huge sale and management has asked for several high-priced items to be removed from the shop floor, as selling them during the sale means a loss. We tell all of our staff that they aren’t to be sold but the young ones never listen.  

Customer: “I want [item].”

Coworker: “[My Name], can you get [item] for me? There’s none on the floor.”

Me: “We don’t have stocks available right now.”

Coworker: *Loudly* “But the computer says we have seven.“

I dramatically hold my finger to my lips behind the customer’s back before I speak to the customer.

Me: “I’m sorry. We are expecting them back in the store, but they haven’t arrived yet.”

Coworker: *Later, to me* “I don’t understand. The computer said we have seven and that means they are in the store.”

Me: “I know, but remember us telling you that we aren’t allowed to sell them? And that if we do, we have to have a very good excuse for doing so or we will get a written warning?”

Coworker: “Oh, I forgot that.”

I suppose that having to remember something for the ten minutes between her being told and the customer wanting the item is a very long time for some people.