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When did you quit school??

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  • #1

    When did you quit school??

    I work in your typical (or maybe not so typical) board/card game store. We sell comics, board games, magic cards, etc.
    Customer comes into our store today and stops by the used comic book table (50% off all books on the table, really good deals) and looks up at me at the counter.
    Cast of Characters:

    OG: Odd guy
    Me: Awesome game store manager

    OG: "Are any of these based on reality?"
    Me: "Sir, they are comic books".
    OG: "Oh, well I am going to look through your store if that's ok".

    Customer proceeds to wander through the store looking at different things and making weird comments so I keep an eye on the situation. Customer comes up to the counter and says "They never had anything like this when I was growing up, they just had Atari and arcade games". I smile, he isnt any older than I am. "Sir, I am pretty sure they had Monopoly, Chess, Operation, etc. back when you were growing up". Customer then utters a hilarious line (at least I thought it was that way):
    "I dont know any of that stuff. I am illiterate because I quit school before Calculators came out".

    I am pretty sure they were teaching people how to read LONG before they were teaching people how to use a calculator.
    "Employees can make or break any business, so treat them with respect. Job satisfaction has little to do with money. Discover what it has to do with and make sure they get it."
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I'm thinking your customer is frequently outwitted by inanimate objects. That, or he's not taking his medication.

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    • #3
      Perhaps he means pocket calculators that certainly in Britain,weren't really cheap and accessible enough for everyone to have until about the 1970s
      The Copyright Monster has made me tell you that my avatar is courtesy of the wonderful Alice XZ.And you don't want to annoy the Copyright Monster.

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      • #4
        Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
        Perhaps he means pocket calculators that certainly in Britain,weren't really cheap and accessible enough for everyone to have until about the 1970s
        Well, he could not have been any older than I am and I am 32.
        "Employees can make or break any business, so treat them with respect. Job satisfaction has little to do with money. Discover what it has to do with and make sure they get it."

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        • #5
          Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
          Perhaps he means pocket calculators that certainly in Britain,weren't really cheap and accessible enough for everyone to have until about the 1970s
          Even so, that would make him innumerate not illiterate. And comic books have been around for twice as long as calculators, while Monopoly is twice as old again!
          This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
          I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

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          • #6
            I just had an epiphany - I'll bet your customer meant to use the word 'computer' instead of 'calculator'. Although the IBM PC has been around for more than 30 years, it wasn't until the 1990s that they became commonplace for the average Joe - right about the time inexpensive internet access and user-friendly GUIs were in place. Even then, some people didn't want to spend a lot of money on a machine they had no clue how to use, so computers reaching a saturation point wasn't until the mid- to late-1990s. It may be that your customer was a come-lately to the information age.

            Though why he hasn't heard of the board games you mention, or why he would think that comics would be based on reality still baffles me.

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            • #7
              Though why he hasn't heard of the board games you mention, or why he would think that comics would be based on reality still baffles me.
              It all depends on how you define reality...
              When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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              • #8
                If I recall, calculators came out about 1972 and were at a whopping price of $300 plus. They had comic books then, as well as Monopoly, Scrabble, and I believe Operation. I am over forty myself, and from what this guy sounds like, he is as well. He's sounding like the old World War II vets that claim they hid their money under a mattress, and walked to school each morning, barefoot, uphill, both ways, in five feet of snow.

                Real tool there.

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                • #9
                  Quoth greensinestro View Post
                  nd walked to school each morning, barefoot, uphill, both ways, in five feet of snow.
                  My Dad actually tried that type of line on me...When I was growing up in New Orleans x.x ...where the only hills are man-made, and "snoh," much like tree leaves that turn any colors other than green and black, is the stuff of legend.
                  "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                  "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                  "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                  "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                  "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
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                  Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                  "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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                  • #10
                    Comic books were around during the 40's (comic book seminar in college ftw! Superman appeared in '38.) and Monopoly is roughly that old too. Even if there wasn't there were other board games that were!

                    Either this guy is off his meds or he's been very, very sheltered from reality progress.
                    If I make no sense, I apologize. I'm constantly interrupted by an actual toddler.

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