Just Past The Left-Handed Paintbrushes And Edible Glitter Glue…

I’m tidying up the shelves of sketchbooks when a sharply dressed middle-aged woman approaches, holding a pack of graphite pencils.

Customer: “Excuse me, I bought these pencils here last week and they’re… too grey.”

Me: “…They’re graphite.”

Customer: “Yes, but when I draw, everything looks dull and lifeless. They’re depressing. Don’t you have something with more color?”

Me: “We do, they’re called colored pencils.”

Customer: “No, I still want them to be grey, just… vibrant grey. You know?”

I pause, realizing she’s completely serious.

Me: “Sure. Right this way. They’re on the shelf between the waterproof towels and the cordless extension cords.”

I realize after that I might have applied a better filter to what I said, but the customer ignored me and simply looked at the random shelf I was pointing to and said:

Customer: “Oh, you must be out of stock. I’ll try [Competitor]. Shame, you guys just lost a sale.”

After I told my manager and coworkers what I said. After laughing, they suggested a few more products we could sell, ranging from reversible highlighters, see-through paint, waterproof sponges, and scented erasers for blind people…