Monday, April 10, 2023

Random Story – Three quick stories

These are just odd little stories from my life.

#1

Years ago, I lived in a town with a big Mexican population.  And one day in mid-April or so, I was walking around the town and I saw a sign for “5 de Mayo.” For a few seconds in my head, I wondered, What the hell is five de Mayo?

#2

Many years ago, there was some issue with our landline.  A technician came out and fixed the problem, but we needed a new phone.  Well, he did have an old rotary phone in his truck, I think it might have been the last one he had, since most people had moved on to phones with buttons.  And my parents had dealt with rotary phones for decades so they were fine with it.

Well, some years later, some Amish started moving into our area.  And one thing about the Amish is that they can use phones, they just can’t have a phoneline to their house.  So if they needed to call someone, they went over to a neighbor and ask to use their phone.  My parents let it be known that the Amish could use our phone.  With the older Amish, there weren’t any issues.  But one day some younger Amish came over to use the phone and they had never seen a rotary one before.  Our phone was so old, the Amish didn’t know how to use it.  It was shortly after that my parents upgraded to a basic, cordless phone.

#3

I used to see ads for this store, but they only seemed to be “Great prices on items,” types of ads, and I had no idea what this store actually sold.  Well, one day I took a detour or something, and as I went down this road I rarely traveled, I saw one of these stores.  So a week or so later, I was bored one afternoon so I went to see what they sold.  They basically sold everything, from computers to refrigerators. 

I don’t know how long I was there before an employee came up and asked if I needed any help.  I said I was just looking, and went on my way.  But instead of letting me go on my way, this guy followed me around the store and popped in like every two minutes to ask if he could help me.  Like, I stopped for ten seconds to look at this eight-foot TV, and he shows up and starts going on with the price.  I say I can’t afford it, he goes on about payment plans.  I say I’m moving in a few months, he says they can store it for me until my new place is set up.  He did not take no for an answer, to the point, he even “went to his manager” to get me a 15% discount on the TV. 

After the second or third time he came up to me, I wondered, Can he not take a clue?  It was almost funny.  But when he’s giving me a business card with his name, and the manager’s name, and how this special discount would only hold for the next few days, I knew I had to go.  If he had just let me look, I probably would have stayed in the store looking around for another ten or fifteen minutes.  And I probably would have bought a … candy bar, or something.  But I left that store, and never went back.

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