He Is All Talk… And That’s It

(I work for a cell phone retailer. An older gentleman comes into the store and states that he has lost his phone. We go over the process of checking if he has insurance on his device, as well as going through the steps for filing a claim. He opts to file the claim in-store. While going through the automated steps on the phone with the insurance company, and as we are issuing him a loaner device, we hear things like this:)

Customer: “Why do I have to talk to a robot?”

Customer: “These d*** robots are taking over everything!”

Customer: “I don’t understand what this robot is asking me.”

(Not many people enjoy automated systems, so though this is a wee bit strange and annoying, it is understandable. Once his claim is filed, we begin to issue him a loaner phone. Since one of our devices is malfunctioning, we have to remove that one and activate another one. While thanking him for being patient as we do this, he completely ignores us, which we don’t mind. He is muttering profanities as well as having a full on conversation — with no one. My manager and I exchange confused looks. My manager then pulls up the memo pad on the computer while waiting for the claim to fall through. I think she is making account notes, but she is actually writing a message for me to read over her shoulder. She writes:)

Manager: “I’m pretty sure he’s talking to himself…”