# Subway--"We've never carried that" is not the same as we no longer carry that. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 30, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450 "2005-01-30T17:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450/41 "2005-02-06T23:03:59Z")
Also, I hope no one gets the impression from this that I am a gift-grubbing twat who is retroactively pitting Steve the Idiot because he didn’t get me exactly what I wanted. It’s his dumbness that’s the issue. For instance, we could watch an entire episode of SNL, and he wouldn’t get one joke that wasn’t slapstick. Puns and satire were utterly beyond him. He also believed that Challenger was sabotaged by spies from the former USSR. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450/42 "2005-02-06T23:56:26Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > —While we’re at it, am I right about the reissues? ISTR that four CDs were released simultaneously: _Beatles for Sale_, _With the Beatles_, and the UK versions of _Revolver_ and _Rubber Soul_. Correct? > > Huh? March comes before June on my calendar. Yes, but March comes after **February** , which is when _Beatles for Sale_ was issued on CD, as I said above. (It was _Sgt Pepper_ that was released in June; I only mentioned it as context for the release timeline of the earlier albums.) _For Sale_ was one of the first batch, the others being _Please Please Me_, _With the Beatles_, and _A Hard Day’s Night_. The next three, _Help_, _Rubber Soul_, and _Revolver_, were released two months later. Then came _Sgt Pepper_ by itself on the 20th anniversary of its original release, accompanied by much media hoopla. (Remember Walter Cronkite signing off with “We read the news today, oh boy”?) ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450/43 "2005-02-07T00:15:39Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Hmmm… I’ve seen this before, in retail as described above and other places too; I used to work on a team carrying out stocktakes and audits in duty-free stores - one of the items on our checklist was to make sure we looked inside the safe for any high-value items such as high-end watches and jewellery that might be stored there. The conversation nearly always went like this: > Me: Could you open the safe for me please? > Store Manager: There’s nothing in the safe > Me: All the same, I need to check if there’s any stock in there > SM: I can tell you there isn’t > Me: Yeah, but I have to _physically check_ - you know, sometimes there are high-value items in there for security, you know, watches and stuff… > SM: No, we keep all that stuff in the high-value cupboard under lock and key > Me: Would you just open the safe for me please, so I can tick this little box on my form? > SM: \ Okay than, but I’m telling you, there are never any watches in the safe… \ …_except these ones here_. Wow. I can believe one inept boob of a manager made that mistake, but _lots of them_? Wow. The company must not put much effort into deciding who they make managers. What store was that, if I may ask, so I never shop there? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450/44 "2005-02-07T00:23:35Z")
Huh. Well, no offense, but it’s **ethanwinfield** ’s cite that seems plausible to me. I clearly remember reading the CD reviews in _Rolling Stone_, and thinking, “See! I was right—it **does** exist!” If that had happened in February, there wouldn’t have been any confusion. Or maybe I’m confusing Christmas with my birthday. Maybe I asked for the album in December, not during the run-up to my March birthday. (In which case, I wouldn’t have been suggesting _Joshua Tree_ as an alternative; that would be two separate incidents.) Or maybe StI is even dumber than I realized. If the CD was released in February, he would have found it. Maybe he only looked at listed records, not CDs. (This is also the guy who thought the actor Andrew McCarthy was Paul McCartney’s son. :smack: “No, man; that’s not even the same name.”) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450/45 "2005-02-07T00:55:29Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Huh. Well, no offense, but it’s **ethanwinfield** ’s cite that seems plausible to me. I clearly remember reading the CD reviews in _Rolling Stone_, and thinking, “See! I was right—it **does** exist!” If that had happened in February, there wouldn’t have been any confusion. I bought _Beatles for Sale_ myself on February 28, 1987, along with the rest of the initial release. Don’t argue with me about Beatles lore, **Rilchiam** dear. > [@Rilchiam](#): > > If the CD was released in February, he would have found it. Maybe he only looked at listed records, not CDs. Well, the CD was released just days before your birthday. So if he was looking, say, a week beforehand, he wouldn’t have found it. However–bringing this sort-of back to the original topic–it doesn’t speak well for the awareness level of the clerk at Sam Goody’s. Even if the CD wasn’t actually on the shelves yet, the impending first-ever\* release of the Beatles on CD was a **big fat hairy deal**. It was in the _news_. Capitol promoted the hell out of it. A person who actually worked in a record store would have to be stone fucking _blind_ not to know that some Beatles albums that were different from the ones already available were coming in, and a quick check would confirm that one of them was indeed called _Beatles for Sale_. \*Not counting the Japanese edition of _Abbey Road_ that was fleetingly available before being withdrawn, or the wretched Star Club tapes. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450/46 "2005-02-07T01:27:33Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > I bought _Beatles for Sale_ myself on February 28, 1987, along with the rest of the initial release. Don’t argue with me about Beatles lore, **Rilchiam** dear. Okay then! > [@](#): > > Well, the CD was released just days before your birthday. So if he was looking, say, a week beforehand, he wouldn’t have found it. It must have been Christmas that I asked for it then. Because **I** would have known if the CDs were about to be released. > [@](#): > > However–bringing this sort-of back to the original topic–it doesn’t speak well for the awareness level of the clerk at Sam Goody’s. Even if the CD wasn’t actually on the shelves yet, the impending first-ever\* release of the Beatles on CD was a **big fat hairy deal**. It was in the _news_. Capitol promoted the hell out of it. A person who actually worked in a record store would have to be stone fucking _blind_ not to know that some Beatles albums that were different from the ones already available were coming in, and a quick check would confirm that one of them was indeed called _Beatles for Sale_. Indeed! As I noted earlier, _The Joshua Tree_ wasn’t available until a week after my birthday either, but no store clerk with an awareness level greater than that of a turnip would have said, “Huh?” when asked about it. I remember feeling somewhat apprehensive about the hype, thinking that it might be that U2 had shot their wad with _Unforgettable Fire_, and being pleasantly amazed to find that they’d topped themselves (IMO). It wasn’t until _Rattle and Hum_ that I was disappointed. Anyway, you’re right: both these albums (Beatles and U2) were highly anticipated, and they didn’t have to be physically in the store for people to know that they shortly would be. So I’ll conclude that I must have been asking for the Beatles **record** in December, before I knew about the CD releases, and at which point the clerk can be given a pass, because people at the brick-and-mortar level might well not have been aware of the impending February release of the CDs. Which still makes StI the Pit-worthy person here. At that point, it wasn’t about CD vs. vinyl. It was about the fact that I **told him the album was an import** , and that he would have to go to a **resale shop** to find it. He just wasn’t a very good listener. I said, “It’ll be hard to find”; he heard “The mall stores might only have one copy.” I said “resale shop”; he heard “Salvation Army.” This is also the guy who took the SATs **five times** , with no appreciable change in score. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-weve-never-carried-that-is-not-the-same-as-we-no-longer-carry-that/287450.md?page=2)