Oy! I always heard about customers like you!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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But I never met one 'til today.

Woman was in our Bed-in-a-Bag section*. Held up a bag and asked me, “Do you think my son would like this, or is it too femme?”

I finally got the classic question! “Do you think this would fit my wife? Do you think my co-worker would like this? Is this good for a teenager?” Well, since I don’t know your wife’s size, your co-worker’s tastes, or the teenager’s interests…maybe you’re the only one who can answer that question, hmm?

But in this case, I could at least say that if she was concerned about not getting her son something too “femme”, then, no, she should not get him that.

“Probably not. But I can show you something that he probably would like!”

I pointed out two of our surf-themed B-in-a-Bs. One of them, the comforter is a big picture of the ocean, blue with waves, and palm tree islands here and there with windsurfers in between. The other has a background of yellow sand, and surfers are jumping out of their VW convertibles and running into the surf with their boards over their heads. This might sound cartoony, but it’s not: they’re actually very good renderings.

Woman [shocked]: “My son is 23! He wouldn’t want surfboards! No, I’ll just get this plaid one!”

Well, wow. Excuse me for 1) assuming that a guy whose mom buys his bedding for him must be underage 2) not realizing that 23 is too old for a surf theme and 3) bothering you by showing an alternative when you made your own decision anyway!

Not something I’m bothered about; I just think it’s funny. So I finally got one of those people who thinks salespeople are all-knowing!

(And since when is 23 too old for a surf theme? It’s not too old for surfing; I know that.)

*Bed-in-a-Bag is awesome! You get a comforter, sheets, pillow cases, pillow shams, and a bedskirt, all coordinated and the same size. Much easier than trying to assemble the lot piece by piece, and usually cheaper too. Only problem is possibly not being able to find the size you want, but otherwise, it’s the way to go, IMHO.

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Welcome to the boards, Indian George! I’m honored that you chose my thread for your debut!

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Rilchiam, if I may be so kind to ask, have you posted this before?

Now, I only ask because my sanity is hanging by a thread. I know I have read this before. As soon as I started reading, things began to sound familiar, and I remembered the part about the 23 year old and surfboards ( before I got that far, that is).

I could have sworn I saw this at least a week or more ago.

Or maybe I’m cracking up.

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D’oh! Yes, I did post that a while back. But I thought I’d go into more detail this time.

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The Deja Vu Thread…

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Thank you, Thank you, Emperor Penguin! I was sitting here reading this and started thinking “Whoa, what was in that coffee this morning? LSD?”. Good thing you came along before me to clear things up, or I might be headed down to the ER for a dose of thorazine right now!

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::shakes head vigorously:: Ah, that’s better. I thought I was goin’ nuts. I did recognize that there was more detail, though.

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Well, my sanity is safe. For the time being.

It was an amusing story. And hey, my mom still buys my bedding (I’m 22). Of course, I’m a student, and I’m living at home, so I do have some excuse. That, and she does it completely unbidden. She’ll just get home from shopping and bam! New bed stuff! She actually just got me a new duvet. I love my mom.

Although I was half ways convinced for a while that I had tapped some strange, ungodly powers of message board post future reading predicting sort of thing.

Well, it doesn’t sound as good on paper, but I would have been unstoppable. The world could have been mine! Maybe. Probably not. I think I need sleep now…

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I’m still foggy on what a “duvet” is… and I buy my own bedding! <proud look>

On some occasions, I can dress myself.

I really like the bed in a bag concept, though. I think it was created for doofus males like myself; we don’t have to bother with looking for a bedspread that matches pillowcases that match sheets that match a bed skirt that match a comforter, and so on. All of it is in one bag (well, except for the bedspread).

But you get the same customers everywhere, dontcha? “This horror movie here… do you think my husband would like it?” Me: “Yes, I know him very well, Miss Whoever You Are, Wherever You’re From… he’ll LOVE it!”

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A duvet is one of those two-nations-divided-by-a-common-language words – in the U.S. it’s a comforter.

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oh, Rilchiam, I can sympathize with your sales-person troubles! Right out of high school, I worked in a “variety store” (kinda like Wal-Mart, but it wasn’t). At Christmas time, they put me in the music section, so I could help parents figure out exactly what music it was that their teenage kids had asked for. One woman came in (circa 1980), and said “I forget the name of the band, but it had something to do with seafood” Hmmm. I asked her if she could remember anything else about the band. “Oh, yes, it had some color in the name” Oooohhhh! “You’re looking for Blue Oyster Cult” “Yes, yes, that’s it!” It was like a new word puzzle every 15 minutes working in that place at Christmas time!

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I love Bed-in-a-Bag too, but they never have enough pillowcases. And I think a duvet is more accurately described as a comforter with a removable (for washing) cover. OOOh! that makes me a salesperson who (thinks) she knows everything!

Actually, at this time of year, we’re ready to strangle the above-described customer. Sometimes I’ll be ornery and say "I would prefer to get this other (more expensive) gift, but you know your (sister, mother, lover, wife, cow-orker) better than I do, what do you think?

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Yeah…I’ve also gotten the “Which one is better?..Well, of course you’d say that one is better; it’s the more expensive one!” exchange.