Your Problems Just Tripled

I work in a self-serve ice cream store. We have fifteen flavors that are swapped out every two weeks. They all have somewhat different names; i.e. we don’t have “vanilla,” but we have “Tahitian vanilla,” which tastes identical to regular vanilla. We also do samples for customers who are indecisive. An older man walks into the store, alone.

Me: “Good morning, sir! Welcome to [Business]!”

Customer: “Mornin.’”

I see him carefully observing all of the signs, toppings, and flavors we have, which is usually a sign that they have never been here before.

Me: “Sir, have you ever been here before?”

Customer: “Nope.”

Me: “Oh, well, let me come around to the front and give you an explanation!”

I go through the entire spiel and once I’m done, I notice him take a self-serve bowl.

Me: “Can I get you any samples, sir?”

Customer: “Do you have any chocolate? My wife sent me here and she wants chocolate.”

Me: “Yep, we have ‘triple chocolate’ in the first machine. It’s really yummy.”

Customer: “No! That’s not what I asked for! She wants just chocolate!”

Me: “I assure you, sir, it tastes like standard chocolate ice cream.”

Customer: “She’s not going to like it because it’s not what she asked for! Just forget it!”

The customer slams the cup down on a nearby table and storms out.

Me: “Have a nice day, sir!”

My manager, who must’ve seen the whole thing on the security camera live-feed, pokes her head out from the back.

Manager: “What was that all about?”

Me: “He wanted chocolate and not triple chocolate.”

Manager: “But they taste the same!”

Me: “That’s what I told him.”

Manager: “Weird.”

My manager goes back into her office. I take the cup the man had touched and throw it out, and then I go back behind the counter. No sooner do I get back there than the old man comes storming back inside.

Customer: “Do you still have my cup?!”

Me: “No, sir, I threw it out due to the fact that it was unsanitary.”

Customer: “Well, that was a stupid thing to do; now I need to get a new cup! I talked to my wife. She was fine with triple chocolate.”