Please, be even more vague

[RootedPhoenix]

I'm fixing a hole where the rain comes in...

...keeps my mind from wanderin'...where it will go...

I always have to make sure I know what I'm asking for, or else I'll get to the counter and completely forget. Either that, or I'll get distracted by shinies and not even get what I was originally shopping for.

[AriRashkae]

Last week, first day on the new job "My grandson wants this game on the DS with a guy in a mustache."

Could you be a bit more specific?

"He has a brother."

To be fair, that does cut out half the games on the market. Leaving you with the other half ...

[Jester]

This reminded me of an old story from when I first started working at Sears.

Her: "Yeah, y'all got that thing on TV?"

There were a series of commercials (for Lowes or Home Depot, I think) a few years ago that showed a series of customers coming in with really vague descriptions of the item they're looking for or the problem they're trying to fix and the omniscient, ever-helpful, mind-reading, charades-playing employees were able to divine exactly what the flumoxed customers were looking for.

It was at Sears a few years ago that I was Mr. Vague, and the employee was just like the employee in that commercial.

JESTER: "Hi. I'm an idiot. I need some help."
EMPLOYEE: "Oookkkkaaaaay....what can I help you with?"
JESTER: "There's some new tool out on the market that I want to get for my stepfather, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it is, other than that it's brand new and really cool."
EMPLOYEE: "I know just what you're talking about."

And damn if he didn't walk me right over to said tool! Naturally, I thanked him profusely, bought the tool, sent it to Stepdad for Christmas, and being the Tool Guy that he is, naturally he loved it!

But please don't ask me what the tool was....I am not kidding when I say I have forgotten!

[Mikkel]

I am so thankful for the internet and my cell phone camera for saving me from similar problems. "I need *this*" or "Do you have something to fix *this*?" <shows a picture>

My father once needed some thingamajig, I can't remember what, something to hold a folding tabletop I think. He made a drawing of the way he thought it should look and went to the hardware store. The guy there looked at his drawing and listened to his explanation. then he said "Yes, I wish they made one of those, it would really be handy".

[EvilEmpryss]

Jester, I've found that if I start out with something along the lines of "Yeah, I'm a goober, but I can't remember/don't know the name of the thingy I'm looking for", most employees will grin and play 20 questions until we figure it out.

Mikkel, I got into canning this summer, and eventually decided I needed a food mill. This lovely contraption is not something most people know about by name, so I printed out a pic from the internet to show when I went shopping. Sure enough, I got to the store and realized I'd left it at home. My husband got a piece of scrap paper and drew a quick sketch of a handled bowl with a crank sticking off the top. It was a good enough sketch that the employee knew exactly what it was! Gotta love having an artist for a hubby.

[Jester]

Jester, I've found that if I start out with something along the lines of "Yeah, I'm a goober, but I can't remember/don't know the name of the thingy I'm looking for", most employees will grin and play 20 questions until we figure it out.

Oh, I agree. And I find most employees are very helpful when I start out with "I'm an idiot," because it basically is telling them I know I am clueless and that I need their expert guidance in the situation at hand. Not only is it self-deprecating, but it is a compliment to their skills that I have admitted my incompetence to them and trust them to guide me in my time of need.

But the amazing thing about my experience with the Sears guy is that there was no twenty questions. I honestly couldn't remember a damn thing about the tool in question other than it was a brand new thing and had been advertised, and I told him that, and he immediately knew what I was talking about. It was awesome!

[Andara Bledin]

Last week, first day on the new job "My grandson wants this game on the DS with a guy in a mustache."

That would be a Mario game... there are only about 50 of them...

Could you be a bit more specific?

"He has a brother."

Yup, that's a Mario game.

Actually, there's a brand new Mario game for the DS. I saw a link to a review on another site I visit. Otherwise I wouldn't know about it.

^-.-^

[OfficeSlug]

I hate when women send their (mostly clueless) husbands into the grocery store for ingredients...


"Yeah I need X. My wife sent me in for it."
Now, I don't know what X is, so I ask, "Is it a spice? Paste? Is it for a baking?"

"I don't know."

Dude, we can run around and ask all the clerks if THEY know, but it'd be a bit easier if you at least had an idea of what your wife was making!

[simplyanother]

Well, after they go to the grocery store for the mystery ingredients, they head on down to the craft store for random glittery doodads that they haven't got a clear description of, anything similar to a name, or even what it's purpose might be.

It's great!

(grumble grumble)


When they come with the "its was your ad!", it's always ACMoore. Cause all craft stores are the same.

I should be happy we don't have anything but Glitter Hell and ACMoore here, huh?

[Shironu-Akaineko]

That would be a Mario game... there are only about 50 of them...

Yup, that's a Mario game.

Actually, there's a brand new Mario game for the DS. I saw a link to a review on another site I visit. Otherwise I wouldn't know about it.

^-.-^

Oh, I know it's a Mario game. I mean, it's only half our stock of games right there.

But she came back yesterday with clarifications!
"It has a green Luigi and there's a guy with a spiky shell!"

WHY THANK YOU!
Now we're....exactly where we started.

Told her when she left that I needed the title for this to work.

[EvilEmpryss]

So she took the time to find out that it had a green Luigi and a guy with a spikey shell, but she couldn't just write down the title? Some people.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

5$ says she comes back next week and says "He says it's a Mario Game."

[Megg]

I am often the clueless one, as my hubby likes to send me to the hardware store. Me! In a hardware store! Of course, I am one of those who is pretty good at "the thing ... you know, that does that one thing?" I can usually figure those out, but after my first trip to Home Depot, I knew I needed a list. Now, I just take the broken whatever it is, or write down exactly what he says, it saves some embarrassment.

[MrsEclipse]

I want that game, but it's the sequel to the sequel of a game I haven't beaten yet in the first place.

A lot of people at the library where I work think I'm psychic, because one out of every five times someone comes with either a vague description of a book they've only seen in their dreams or a need for one DVD in an unsorted pile stacked to Mount Olympus, I'm able to reach over and pick it up.

I never should have done that the first time. Once they see that you can do it once, they'll always come to you. No, I don't know which book had the guy in it that your kid would like. Yes, I know it was red. Would you like "The Phantom Tollbooth"?

[XCashier]

I hate when women send their (mostly clueless) husbands into the grocery store for ingredients...

Well, after they go to the grocery store for the mystery ingredients, they head on down to the craft store for random glittery doodads that they haven't got a clear description of, anything similar to a name, or even what it's purpose might be.

I see we have the same customer...

It's not fair to your spouse/SO to send them to the store to get you something from the store without a clear description of what you need. Write it down, give spouse part of the old label, tell spouse where it's likely to be located in the store, the size, strength, color, anything! It may seem like you can read each others' minds after X years of marriage, but trust me, the psychic powers konk out at the most inconvenient times.