"I'm from Texas"

[Knightmare]

Not a sucky customer. Just a "wtf does that have to do with anything?" kind of moment today.
I'm down the cleaning supply aisle, helping a customer find something to clean off rust from her printing press. Yes. Her printing press. The one that is in her spare bedroom. Anyway, we finish up, and I start heading back to my paint desk when a Latino guy comes up to me. He asks me where the tie-downs are.

Me= The ever impressive, the long-contained, the often imitated but never duplicated Knightmare of the home improvement scene.
LG= That Latino guy I was talking about.

Me: "They're 2 aisles away, middle of aisle 3, right side. They're next to the bungee cords." Yes, I can direct a person to almost any product in the store with pinpoint accuracy. I'm scary like that.
LG: "Are you sure? I was just there. I didn't see them."
Me: "Sure? Positive. I'll walk you over there." Which I do. "Here they are. Anything else I can help you with?"
LG: "Do you carry things for RVs?"
Me: "Well, not spare parts or anything, but we do carry *some* accessories. Those would be over in seasonal."
LG: "Where is that?"
Me: "The seasonal department is 3 aisles that way. You were in it when you came in the building."
LG: "Man, I don't know where that is. I'm from Texas."
Me: "Uhh... okay. Just turn to your left. When you see the riding mowers and patio furniture, you're there."
LG: "Where are the mowers? I"m telling you, I'm from Texas. I don't know where things are."
Me: "Don't worry, you can't miss them. Dilbert (name changed) is the department manager over there. He can help you find your items."

And I send him on his merry way.
Okay, as I said, not a sucky customer. But why does being from Texas make you unable to find the big red or green shiny riding lawn mowers parked in the main aisle of the store? When you come in the entrance doors *BLAMMO!* there they are. You can't miss them unless you walk really fast with your head down, looking at the floor and turn left. Maybe that's what this guy did.

Everything is big in Texas. I guess that means the idiots as well.

[KamenRiderOsaka]

First and foremost, your comment about Texas is way off base. Sorry, I live there, and while there are idiots here, doesnt mean they are any worse than idiots anywhere else.

Second, I think the guy was trying to get you to understand that hes not from whereever you are, and therefore is unfamiliar with the store.

[BusBus]

Second, I think the guy was trying to get you to understand that hes not from whereever you are, and therefore is unfamiliar with the store.

It sounds like Knightmare gave him pretty clear directions. Him being from out-of-state was kind of irrelevant. It sounds like the guy was just kinda slow (which has nothing to do with where he lives.....)

[SCSlave]

I think what Knightmare was trying to say was that being from out of town has nothing to do with whether or not you can follow directions. This guy asked where something was, and Knightmare gave him really good precise directions. The guy just didn't 'get it'.

[Knightmare]

I was giving him directions to a section of the store which was 30 feet away from where he was standing. I wasn't sending him down the street or to the next town. If I was, then I could understand why being from out of state was relevant.

And don't take to heart my comment about the idiots in Texas. Florida has our share too. Probably bigger idiots, because all the idiots from North America come here.

[South Texan]

It is not as if our state is another country where everything is different from the rest of the US.

The guy may have been trying to say he was not familiar with the store's layout, but that was a pretty lame way to do it.

And yes, it did make him look like an idiot.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

First and foremost, your comment about Texas is way off base. Sorry, I live there, and while there are idiots here, doesnt mean they are any worse than idiots anywhere else.

Second, I think the guy was trying to get you to understand that hes not from whereever you are, and therefore is unfamiliar with the store.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. There is a high level of pride in being Texan that translates into a greatly inflated arrogance when the Texan is also an idiot and/or a sucky customer. When my folks were living in Texarkana I met a lot of Texans on my visits down to them, so I've seen the Texan pride first hand.

For the large part it's not a bad thing. The Texan pride usually means that you'll hear a lot of good-natured blustering and bragging about how everything is bigger/better in Texas. I just smile, roll my eyes and continue on.

However I'd rather deal with a sucky New Yorker than a sucky Texan any day of the week and you know the reputation New York City residents have for being grumpy, surly and generally unpleasant. The sense of pride turns into a sense of entitlement far worse than any I've seen in the 23+ states I've visited and/or lived in.

As for this guy using Texas as a way to explain that he's unfamiliar with the store he's in, how hard is it to understand that something is in the same area where you were when you entered the building. As directions go, some sales clerk pointing to an area and saying "Over there by the entrance" is pretty clear should be easy to figure out.

If it were a toy department and you gave the directions to a 5-year old child I'm fairly certain that they could find it with minimal difficulty.

M

[digilight]

Knightmare, I'm greatly offended by your statement. Texas doesn't have the biggest idiots in the union. I'm from Southern California and I happen to believe that we may hold the title of idiot capital of the US of A

[steviededalus]

When someone says something like "I'm from Texas" or "I'm from wherever," you should get a sad, sympathetic look and say "Oh...I'm so sorry." Then continue as normal.

[Becks]

I can't help but wonder how the customer found his way to the store in the first place.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Is your store one that has the same layout at all of their stores nationwide? If so that makes it extra funny

[Polenicus]

When I read that, I got an image in my head of a Texan reader perking up. "Oh, hey, I know him! That's Phil! Yeah, we had a statewide collection a few years back to buy him that RV and enough gas money to get him across the state line. Thank god he hasn't found his way back yet."

[Imogene]

"You're a long way from Texas, Sir. How the hell did you end up in Florida?"

[BookstoreEscapee]

"You're a long way from Texas, Sir. How the hell did you end up in Florida?"

He's not a crazy astronaut, is he?

[cewfa]

Living here in Texas, I must say that the general population (of my town at least) are not idiots, but stupid and cheap. I coined a saying that in the town I live in, you may graduate from high school, but you only get the equivalent of a 3rd Grade education. These people also get upset about paying $10 for a large, three-topping pizza, or $15 for two. Incredibly cheap, its mind boggling.