This Side Uppity
(I work in a fairly ritzy upper-end wine store. We get a lot of customers coming in with partial information about the wine they’re looking for, but we can usually help them find it. Sometimes, not so much.)
Me: “Can I help you, ma’am?”
Customer: “Yes, I bought a case of wine here last month, and I’d like another. I don’t remember the name, but I remember where in France it’s from.”
(Our French wines are organized by the part of France that the wines are from, so this is very helpful.)
Me: “Okay, perhaps you’ll recognize the bottle when we get to that section. Where’s it from?”
Customer: “The ‘cote a ouvrir.'”
Me: “Do you mean Côtes du Rhône, or Côtes du Ventoux, or one of the Côtes appellations in Burgundy, perhaps?”
Customer: “I know d*** well I bought wine here last month, and the box said ‘cote a ouvrir!'”
Me: “I’m sure it did, ma’am. That’s French for ‘open this side.'”
Customer: “Yes! Where do you keep the French wines that say ‘cote a ouvrir?'”
Me: *gestures to the section we’re in* “About two-thirds of these will say that.”
Customer: “So, it’s not very helpful?”
Me: “Not as such, no.”
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