One Man In His Time Drinks Many Cups
Customer: “Can you help me find a book?”
Me: “Sure! What’s it called?”
Customer: “It’s Romeo and Juliet, but it’s not by William Shakespeare.”
Me: “Oh! I actually don’t know any other books or plays with that title. Let’s look it up.”
Customer: “Hold on, I have the author’s name somewhere.”
(She digs through her purse and hands me a sheet of paper that says ROMEO AND JULIET (Folger Shakespeare) on it.)
Customer: “It’s like his grandson or something.”
Me: “Sorry, what?”
Customer: “Folger Shakespeare. It’s William Shakespeare’s grandson… or his nephew. He wrote a different version of the play, I guess.”
Me: “Folger Shakespeare actually just refers to the Folger Library version of that play. It’s still by William Shakespeare.”
Customer: “No, it’s his relative! It’s a rewrite of the play. I’m a theater student, just trust me on this.”
Me: “Okay. Let me take you over to our Shakespeare section.”
(We walk over to where his entire collection of plays is. It’s full of many different editions.)
Customer: “Wow, he came from a really talented family! Look at all these Shakespeares! So, where’s this Folger guy?”
This story is part of the Talk Like William Shakespeare Day roundup!
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Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
