Your Very Own Toy Story  

(Our two kids each have a certain toy. We had bought one and Grandma subsequently bought another when we realized they both loved it. The second one broke soon afterward. We have the gift receipt, and before we left the house I checked the receipt multiple times to be sure it was the right one. We have just arrived at the mall to exchange the toy.)

Me: *checks receipt* “Okay, let’s go to [Toy Store] first and get this exchanged so we can go eat dinner.”

(We walk through the mall to the store. While I go to the customer service desk, my husband keeps the kids entertained off to the side.)

Me: *to cashier* “Hi, we’d like to exchange this toy. We have a gift receipt.”

Cashier: *looks at the receipt* “Okay, I’ll have to call the manager over to process this.”

Me: “Sure.” *looks at the receipt again while waiting*

Manager: “Hi. How can I help you?”

Me: “We’d like to exchange this toy; the touch screen doesn’t respond to touch.”

Manager: “Sure thing. Let me see that receipt.”

(I hand over the toy and receipt.)

Manager: “Uh, ma’am? This toy has a receipt from [bookstore].”

Me: “What, really?” *turns to husband* “Hey, we brought in the wrong receipt!”

Husband: “What? How is that possible?”

(At this point, I still haven’t connected the dots and am somehow convinced that I can exchange this toy at this store.)

Me: *to manager* “So, do I need to find the receipt for the protection plan to exchange this?”

Manager: “No, the receipt is from [Bookstore]. You’ll have to take it there, instead.”

Me: *lightbulb, starts laughing uncontrollably*

Me: “Oh, my God! I can’t believe it; I just tried to return a toy to a store it wasn’t bought at. I’m that kind of customer! Ha!” *to manager* “Thanks! And sorry!!”

Manager: *grins* “It’s okay. At least [Bookstore] is also in the mall; you won’t have to go too much farther to exchange the toy!”

(The manager hands back the toy and receipt, and we exit the store. I’m still laughing and muttering to myself and the racket is attracting the attention of other mall patrons.) 

Husband: “Oh, my God, how embarrassing! People are staring at you! How on Earth did you mess that up, anyway? You looked at that receipt like a hundred times!”

Me: “I guess I just really wanted to believe that the toy came from that store! Now let’s go eat dinner, before we all get cranky!”

(We had bought the first toy at that toy store, and Grandma had bought the second one elsewhere. Despite having been told this at the time the gift was given, my brain refused to accept that the same toy could be bought at two different stores.)