To Be Fair, They Probably Get A Lot Of “It’s Blue!”

This is Christmastime in the late 1990s, and I’m shopping for a present for my brother-in-law. He just purchased a CD player for his home and I want to get him something for it. I decide on The Beatles’ “White Album.” There’s only one record store in my town, a now-defunct corporate chain.

I can’t seem to find the album on the CD rack, so I ask a sales clerk, who doesn’t look a day older than twenty, for some help.

Me: “I can’t seem to find the White Album by the Beatles.”

The clerk gets a dumb look on her face.

Clerk: “What’s it called?”

Me: “The Beatles’ White Album.”

Clerk: “So, the cover’s white, but what’s it called?”

Me: “It’s the White Album. It’s by the Beatles. It’s kind of famous.”

Cue an “older” clerk, about thirty.

Older Clerk: “Let’s look it up in the system.”

The older clerk goes to the computer.

Older Clerk: “Nothing is coming up. Maybe it hasn’t been released yet?”

Me: “Never mind.”

I wound up making a few phone calls and found a small record store the next town over — about eighty miles away — that had it. They offered to ship it, but I made the drive over anyway. I love small businesses with competent staff.