22. A Lucky Gamble
This just happened. A guy walked in and asked me, “What’s the $8 lottery package that my wife always gets?” I looked at him, but I couldn’t place him. In fact, he didn’t look remotely familiar to me.
He was not wearing his mask, mind you, but so far, I’d been pretty good at recognizing the people I’ve only ever seen with masks on since we bought the store. However, I had no clue who this is. So I asked, “Sir, did you just ask me, a complete stranger, what your wife’s preferences are?”
He reiterated, “Well, she always gets an $8 package.” I told him, “The lottery doesn’t have an $8 package.” Then, he asked, “Well, what are the standard games?” So, I rattled off all the games until we figured it out.
I handed him his purchase and said, “OK, here you go, sir, and may I highly encourage you not to tell your wife that you asked a complete stranger what her preferences were.” I thought that would nip it in the bud, but he just wouldn’t quit.
He still seemed to think there was nothing amiss and replied, “Well, she’s in here all the time.” I still said, “But she’s not here now, and I don’t know who she is.” So, he clarified, “Well, I come in with her sometimes.” To end the situation, I said, “OHHH! Well, I have a pretty bad memory so that must be it.” What was unsaid was, “It couldn’t be that I see a few hundred people a day and you’re all just faceless blobs in my memory if you don’t come in here pretty much every day and actually have meaningful conversations!” Sheesh.
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