snacky | (no subject)

Here is a story from my life as a bookseller:

Back when I was newbie bookseller, a customer called on the phone and told me a long story about how her car got broken into and her cassette tapes were stolen and one of the tapes was an audio version of The Bhagavad Gita, read by some famous author. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember the famous author's name ("But you must know him! He's that famous guy! From Oprah!"). But she had bought it at our bookstore, and she was sure we still had it and she wanted to replace it.

Now, I was, as I said, new to the job. I had never heard of The Bhagavad Gita. And since she didn't know the author's name, I was going to have to look the book up in the computer by the title. The way I spell something, I just try to picture the word in my mind, and take it from there. But for some reason, I couldn't wrap my mind around Bhagavad Gita. I kept wanting to spell it "b-g-a-d-i-..." and I knew it wasn't right. So I asked her if she could spell it for me.

Customer: "I don't know how to spell it!"
Me: "Well, I don't know either, and I need to spell it to look it up in the computer."
Customer: "You work in a bookstore! How can you not know how to spell?"

Here I was thinking, "You owned the book! How can you not know the author or how to spell the title?" Instead I said: "Ma'am, I do know how to spell. But I'm just not familiar with the title. So I'm not sure how to spell it."

And now we entered the part of the conversation where the woman felt it would be helpful to just repeat "Bhagavad Gita" over and over again.

Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "Bah, bava-"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "B-a-d?"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "Okay, ma'am? Can you hold for --"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"

I, of course, started to lose it at this point.

Me: "Bagga Daggita?"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "Battlestar Galactica?"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "Inna Gadda Da Vida?"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "Bag of margaritas?"
Customer: "Bhagavad Gita!"
Me: "Babaganoush pizza?!"
Customer: "BHAGAVAD GITA!"

This was, I feel, a career highlight in customer service.

Luckily, at that moment, the manager who handled all the religion and philosophy books walked up, and I thrust the phone at him in a panic. He proceeded to order an audio cassette of Deepak Chopra reading The Bhagavad Gita for the woman. And when he hung up, I made him teach me how to spell it. *g*

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Me: "Bag of margaritas?"

Best. Response. Ever.

Me: "Inna Gadda Da Vida?"

THANK you. Now I am earwormed.

*g*

Me: "Battlestar Galactica?"

HEEEEEEE!

Heee!

"bag of margaritas" should be an acceptable answer to any question.

Babaganoush Pizza!

Eeeee!

*snickers*

I love you. I want to metaquote this so bad, but I can't think where to start.

Hee! It was wishful thinking at that moment.

"Don't you know I love you?"

:-D

Honest to god. And I said it like, "guh-lac-TEEKA" so it rhymed with Bhagavad Gita.

Indeed. And it should be a takeout product from my favorite bar. *g*

I lost it, man. *g*

<3

Hee hee. Take the whole thing, if you want.

I'm sure.

I think I may need to rename my LJ again. "Bag of margaritas." Yes. *G*

OMG, that's even funnier.

Guh-lac-TEEKA is how I shall pronounce it forever now.

Done!

I'm loving you like a two-dollar whore right now.

Do you know why I like you? It's not because of the dialogue, as hysterical as it is. It's because after all that, you made the manager teach you how to spell Bhagavad Gita.

Me: "Inna Gadda Da Vida?

This is the one that came to *my* mind. Hee!

Here via metaquotes. God, that's awesome. I did some time as a bookseller, and had a customer get hostile with me when I couldn't find a book she wanted when she didn't know the title. Wheee!

I saw this entry cross-referenced in

booksellers.

Good grief.

There's only one person I know who can tell that Bhagavad Gita story, in her own incomparable manner.

I didn't know you were on LJ!

C'mon over to my journal and let's dish.

-------pmc-squared

I adore Inna Gadda Da Vida, baby....don't you know that I loooove you?

I'm happily earwormed for the rest of the afternoon.

Great story.

I keep hearing it as "In the Garden of Eden" now..."remember when we used to make out to this hymn?"

If you are ever in Northern California and need a job in retail, call me.

I keep hearing it as "In the Garden of Eden" now..."remember when we used to make out to this hymn?"

::dies::

::wanders off humming::

As I so deserve. :-D

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