That Layby Just Flew By
This happened back around 2001. I was being served at one of the two returns counters for a faulty item next to a teenage girl. From what I heard and saw, she was returning two “The Sims” game CDs.
Manager: “How can I help you?”
Customer: “I’ve had these on layby for ages, and I picked them up yesterday after school. When I got them home, I found that they had the wrong game discs in them, which sucks because I was looking forward to playing them. Can I either get my money back or the proper games, please?”
Manager: “Oh, you’re the third person that’s happened to. We can definitely replace those for you.”
Customer: “Thanks heaps. Just to let you know, my bus leaves in fifteen minutes. If I miss it, I’m going to come back and stand here and chat with whoever is here — staff, customer, or the wall — about nothing for half an hour until the next bus.”
Manager: “Um, okay. Well, we shouldn’t take too long.”
The manager radioed through to the entertainment section, and a staff member quickly brought up two copies of the games.
Manager: “Here you go. Have a nice afternoon.”
Customer: “Thank you loads!”
She grabbed her items, threw them in her backpack, and took off running toward the entrance leading to the bus station.
I finished my business, and out of curiosity, I hung around near the entrance to see if she came back. She didn’t.