He’s Goin’ The Right Way For A Smacked (Silly) Bottom

I worked at a furniture store in the 1970s. We had a customer called Mr. Silebotham. He pronounced it as “Sighlay-bot-harm”, but he was generally known in the shop as “Silly Bottom”.

He ordered some furniture, and on the day it was due to be delivered, he called to get an idea of the timing. He was put through to our warehouse, where the call was answered by one of the junior porters.

Having heard Mr. Silebotham’s request, he said:

Junior Porter: “Give me a moment and I will find out.”

He rested the receiver on the desk — this was an old single phone with no “hold” function — went to the door of the office, and shouted very loudly:

Junior Porter: “I’VE GOT DAFT A**E ON THE PHONE! HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT TIME TO EXPECT HIS FURNITURE!”

It cost some grovelling apologies and a big discount to put that right!