I need a doohickey with a thermowhatsit.

[repsac]

I was talking with a friend of mine today about when we worked together (we had worked at a hardware store together at one time) and he brought up this story. It happened a few days ago he tells me, and well it's hilarious when you think about it.

A customer comes into the store on her cellphone. Now this store was notorious for making you drop a call, and guess what, it did. So she potters around plumbing and such for a good thirty minutes before approaching M. With that perfect lost look on her face she says to him. "I need something for my husband." Of course M asks what, and her words were (to the effect of) "I need, you know that thing that goes on the other part, the doohicky that attaches to it looks like the...you know. It's about yay big (she holds up her fingers a good eight inches apart) but it's not like the other things. You know what I mean?"

M blinks at her and then nods. "Sure do." With that he heads over to pick up a new valve and cut off housing for a toilet. Handing it over the lady stares at it a moment and then smiles. "If this isn't it, can I bring it back?" M just nodded.

Well, he said a few hours later the lady came back after M had gotten off work and told his supervisor about the great service M did, and that what he'd handed her was exactly what her husband had needed. However she knew full well that she'd not explained it right and wanted to know how on earth M even knew what she needed.


His response the next day? He'd had a lady come in a few days before and describe the thing in exactly the same way. Worst he figured, was she'd take it home her husband would say that wasn't right and decided to go get it himself.

So it begs the question.

Have you ever have a customer babble at you when asking for something, only to know exactly what it is they wanted?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

"Oh yeah. they're in that aisle over there, next to the whatchimacallits. You can't miss 'em."

I've had people babble at me, but I don't think I've ever known what they wanted right there. And if I did I don't remember.

[Chantilly]

Back in my video store days I used to get customers all the time that would ask for "That movie. Y'know, the one with that guy in it?"
About half of them would get all pissy if you asked them to please be more specific.

[Broomjockey]

Both been there and done that when I was at the theatre. And I was right about 80% of the time. And considering not only did I have to pick from the 12-16 shows we were playing, there's movies that we *were* playing, movies we were *about* to play, and movies that *other* places were playing, I think 80% was darn good. Then there's my ex-friend, who I shared a strange bond with, and we able to just go "Gimme the thing" and we'd hand over whatever.

[freaktard]

Reminds me of one of my very first Sears stories. I took a call, said my opening spiel, and the customer said (and I swear this is a direct quote):

SC: Yeh you got that thing on TV?

Me: What thing would that be?

SC: That thing that was on TV last night.

No matter how much I pressed her for a better description, all I could get out of her was, "it was that thing on TV last night."

[Ree]

I've had the gibberish descriptions and hand gestures, and been able to decipher it.

Sometimes, if you're really experienced, and have had years of dealing with customers, ya just know.

[hawkchick11]

Some products we sell were featured on Oprah's Favorite Things show

So for about 2 weeks after, I'd get phone calls from little old ladies asking for that 'thing I saw on Oprah' Sadly, I knew exactly what they were talking about.

They didn't care it cost almost $200, or that it was backordered until December/January/February, they wanted it cuz it was on Oprah.

[Record Store Tough Guy]

"Yeah, I'm looking for a song, and it's by a guy, and it has words and music. Do you know which one that is?"

[It shouldn't]

" Yeah, I need a new spring thingy for my door lock"

99.9% it's a latch they need.

[donruss]

God, my wife talks like that and it drives me absolutely crazy.

[tollbaby]

My ex-husband and I still tell people about this today (even though it happened six years ago).

We were at a party, and my ex was chatting with a bunch of people... he yells over at me, "Who was that guy, who was in the thing, with the other guy?" and I yelled over the name of both actors AND the movie they'd been in together. There was *no* way for me to have previous knowledge of what he was talking about, but I just zoomed in on what it was he wanted and knew instinctively LOL Our circle of friends suddenly decided I was psychic.

[Hotfoot]

I am not an expert. However, given what knowledge I have of how humans store memories, I think I have a reasonable explanation as to how this phenomenon occurs.

Humans store memories by connections. For example, way back in the days of my middle school-hood, I would play Civilization 2 endlessly, often while listening to a particular pair of Weird Al CDs. Now, every time I listen to any songs from those CDs, I have a memory of playing Civ2.

Friends who hang out together often end up developing similar linkages to events shared with said friend, so as a result, what may seem like a random series of hand gestures and not terrible descriptive phrases could in fact be motions which his or her mind has linked to the event, but for whatever reason they are missing a critical bit of information that was somehow detached from the rest of the data, such as a name, a place, or a thing.

Since the nature of the storage can be extremely similar between all humans, it's entirely possible for strangers to accurately pick up on the cues and follow them to the (il)logical conclusion. For example, a seemingly random hand gesture might, in fact, be representative of the way water flows through a specialized pump, so while the individual making the gesture does not know the name of the pump, by mimicking one of the specialized actions it performs, they can trigger the linkages in someone who is more knowledgeable on the subject make that final leap.

Or, for the short version, ain't body language and memory wonderful?

[justZu]

I think I've told this before...but I can't remember(gettin' old sucks)

anyway, I was library assistant when my kids were in elementary school and every week this one little guy would come in and ask for some random book like "that blue one with the boy" or "the book with the colors in it" The funniest part was the librarian always knew exactly what he was talking about.

[Bank Lady]

My ex-husband and I still tell people about this today (even though it happened six years ago).

We were at a party, and my ex was chatting with a bunch of people... he yells over at me, "Who was that guy, who was in the thing, with the other guy?" and I yelled over the name of both actors AND the movie they'd been in together. There was *no* way for me to have previous knowledge of what he was talking about, but I just zoomed in on what it was he wanted and knew instinctively LOL Our circle of friends suddenly decided I was psychic.

I had that moment while playing Taboo with my BF and another couple. We were on a streak of right answers when he gave me a one word clue that shouldn't have any connection to the answer, except it did for us. (I so wish I could remember the clue and answer.) The other couple just cracked up and accused us of using telepathy. We had to stop the game for a while until we could all stop laughing.

Regarding the OP, sometimes I wish people would use more gibberish. I have a bigger problem with people saying the "incorrect" words perfectly clearly. I had a five minute conversation with a guy about his credit card and how he had trouble making a purchase, are there daily spending limits, etc. I asked if he had the card with him so I could call the credit card dept and he pulls out a DEBIT card. At which point I have to start everything over because a debit card is not the same as a credit card. Add to this the fact that he had a hearing problem (very large and visible hearing aid) and you can understand how the repetition drove me nuts. Thank God it was only a half day!

[Saydrah]

My SO and his best friend have the same thing. Now that the best friend has a job where he talks to customers, it's no longer their SOLE mode of communication, but they speak in strange mumbles that are indecipherable to outsiders, and they understand each other fully. When I first met the best friend, figuring out the mumblespeak was the ONLY way to talk to him. He either couldn't or wouldn't speak clearly, and if you asked him to explain or speak more clearly, he would get embarrassed and just talk even more quietly.

Now, the best friend does speak normal English sometimes, but they still talk to each other in the mumbling. They also understand each other no matter what. On Friday night they were both at my house and we were all drinking, and they started talking in math. Yes, math. They understood each other perfectly. There was no pre-planning or agreement on a code. They managed to convey a message to each other completely unintelligible to any of the other people in the room, while drinking heavily, with NUMBERS.

Those two absolutely baffle me sometimes.