Not Steering Into Much Sentiment

I work at a video game store that’s a buy-sell-trade type of place. People tend to focus only on the “buy” part and ignore the fact that we’re selective with what we take in. Case in point: the PlayStation 2 steering wheel guy.

Customer: “Man, this wheel means so much to me. My son and I used it all the time… memories, y’know? It really hurts to let it go, but I need to sell it.”

Me: “You don’t have to sell it if you don’t want to.”

Customer: “No, no. I have to. Don’t ask why. Just… please, give me something for it.”

He had the steering wheel and pedals in a box, all detached. As I checked it over, I noticed that some of the wires connecting the wheel to the console and the wheel to the pedals were badly exposed and frayed.

Me: “I’m sorry, but I can’t take this. It’s not in a condition we can resell.”

Customer: “What if I give you a really low price? Just take it!”

Me: “I’m not interested, even at a low price. It’s just not something we can use.”

He left, looking dejected but still muttering about how special it was to him. About an hour later, the owner from the indoor swap meet next door came over to ask me something. As I walked over, I noticed a familiar-looking box sitting on top of one of the outdoor trash cans, the kind with the small round opening where the box clearly didn’t fit. He had just plonked it on top.

Inside the swap meet, the story came out: apparently, he had taken the steering wheel there, tried to sell it directly to them, and threw a fit when they explained they only rent out spaces to sellers; they don’t buy items to sell. Furious, he stormed out and dumped his “precious” wheel right there on top of the trash. He literally, out of rage, just left his precious steering wheel because he couldn’t find anyone who would give him money for it.