Little Britain Redux
Jan. 15th, 2005 08:05 pmSaturday’s shift in the shop felt as if it was scripted by Messrs. Walliams and Lucas. I had a customer with a page and half of computer titles he wanted me to check for availability. They were all about Flash, Flash MX , or variants of, most of them over two years old. I dutifully checked them off one by one on the database, writing “POS” (“Publisher Out of Stock”) against most of them. What I should have done, of course, is just tapped nonsense in and said “Computer says no…. “
Later in the afternoon was a phone enquiry – do we have any books about sundials?
Well, no, but I can see what’s available. (“Margaret, do you know about any books about sundials?”)
“How about ‘Sundials through the Ages’?”
“No, I need a book about how to make a sundial.” (“Margaret, the customer wants a book about how to make a sundial!”)
“How about this one – ‘Constructing Wooden Sundials’?”
“…I’m sorry, it’s got to be made out of metal. “
And so on… at least I was spared Marjorie Dawes and Vicki Pollard. So far. However, next month we’re going to be holding a Hypnotism Evening, which should have potential (“Look into my eyes, not around the eyes, but into the eyes…. There is such a word as Cupboardy”).
Later in the afternoon was a phone enquiry – do we have any books about sundials?
Well, no, but I can see what’s available. (“Margaret, do you know about any books about sundials?”)
“How about ‘Sundials through the Ages’?”
“No, I need a book about how to make a sundial.” (“Margaret, the customer wants a book about how to make a sundial!”)
“How about this one – ‘Constructing Wooden Sundials’?”
“…I’m sorry, it’s got to be made out of metal. “
And so on… at least I was spared Marjorie Dawes and Vicki Pollard. So far. However, next month we’re going to be holding a Hypnotism Evening, which should have potential (“Look into my eyes, not around the eyes, but into the eyes…. There is such a word as Cupboardy”).