He Just Got Awned

(I work in a small convenience store in a town that’s very quiet out of season, and very busy during holidays. We sell the usual essentials you’d find in a corner shop: bread, milk, eggs, tobacco, etc. The store is TINY; you can see all the products wherever you stand because there are no aisles.)

Customer: “Hi, I’ve come here on my holiday, but I left my caravan awning at home. Do you sell them?”

Me: *jokingly* “If you can find one in here amongst the pasta and tinned beans, I’ll sell it to you!”

Customer: *actually starts moving tins of beans around to look underneath them*

Me: “Wait! Stop! What are you doing?!”

Customer: “You said you had an awning under the beans!”

Me: “I was just kidding, dude! Do you want directions to a specialist store in [Nearby Town]?”

Customer: “Yes, but first could you tell me… what I should have been looking for?”

(Turns out he’d been lying about forgetting the awning at home; he didn’t even know what it was! He came back the next day having purchased one from a specialist, and he comes back with his kids every holiday now and pretends to look for an awning under the beans. They’re some of my favourite seasonal customers!)