Makes You Want To Elbow Her In The Oboe

(I work part-time at a small mom-and-pop music store that sells, rents, and repairs musical instruments. I am only here when my boss is unable to come into the store. He takes an annual two-week trip in the summer every year. He is the only one who repairs clarinets, flutes, and oboes. A woman comes in with her shy, middle-school-aged daughter.)

Woman: “My daughter’s oboe isn’t working and I need it repaired by the end of the week.”

(The end of the week is tomorrow.)

Me: “I am sorry, but the man who fixes oboes is on vacation and will not be coming back for another week and a half. You can leave it with us and he will look at it as soon as he comes back, or you can bring it back in when he gets back on [date].”

(The woman turns to her daughter)

Woman: “When is your next practice session?”

Daughter: “Next Wednesday.”

Woman: “My daughter needs this done by next Wednesday. This is unacceptable. We have rented lots of instruments from you over the years and we cannot not have service. I will be coming back in as soon as your boss gets back to return the instrument. We will not be renting from you anymore.”

(The lady ushered her daughter out before I could say anything else. If she had stuck around for five more seconds I would have told her that I could give her a loaner oboe that her daughter could use while she waited for the instrument to be fixed, but I guess that would have taken too long for her.)