Providing A Betta Service
A customer walks in holding a small plastic container with a betta fish.
Customer: “I need something bigger for this guy.”
Me: “Okay, how big is the current tank?”
Customer: “This is it.”
Me: “…That’s a travel cup.”
Customer: “Yeah, but he’s been in there a while. He’s used to it.”
Me: “How long is ‘a while’?”
Customer: “About a week. He seemed fine at first, but lately he’s just been sitting at the bottom.”
Me: “Sir… Bettas need space, filtration, heat—”
Customer: “—Heat? He’s a fish, not a lizard.”
Me: “He’s a tropical fish.”
Customer: “Okay, well, I don’t want to spoil him. I just need something big enough.”
I hand him a proper five-gallon tank setup.
Customer: “Five gallons? That’s more than I use for myself!”
Me: “Yeah, but he’s the only one in your house who can’t open the door and leave. Speaking of leaving, you’re either leaving here with both this tank and the fish, or neither. Am I clear?”
He bought the tank. Thankfully, he became one of my regulars after he graduated from his fish ignorance. He now has a thirty-gallon tank for his small group of fish.
