The Confused Customer
The home-ware section of a department store. A young employee in a white shirt, wearing
headphones, pushes a shelving trolley around a corner without looking where he’s going. His
supervisor, a young woman in a black uniform, is talking to a customer when she spots the
trolley. She pulls the customer out of the way as the young man swerves the trolley around
them. She says, “I’m so sorry!”
The P.A. systems sounds, and a voice says, “Karen to the customer service desk please!” Karen
excuses herself from the customer, and walks quickly towards the counter.
A young female cashier is serving a line of customers as Karen approaches. The cashier spots
her, nodding over her shoulder. Karen glances in that direction, then nods to the cashier
knowingly.
A young sales assistant is talking to an older male customer, who holds a clock. The assistant
talks very quickly, saying, “...it won’t stay on the screen, OK, the wall clocks are just clocks, no
calendars, alright? I don’t understand why you’d want...” He spots Karen, and rolls his eyes,
saying, “Oh, Karen, this guy’s looking for a clock but I’ve shown him all the wall clocks, but he
wants one with a calendar on it as well, and I’ve shown him the desktop clocks, but you’ve got
to push a button on those, they don’t stay on the screen, and he wants one that stays on the
screen.”
Karen nods and turns to the confused customer, asking, “OK, so sir it was a clock you were
after?” He nods saying, “I want one like this one...” when the assistant interrupts, saying, “But
with a calendar on it as well.” Karen nods, repeating, “With a calendar on it as well.” The
customer asks, “Does it come with a screen?” The assistant butts in again, saying quickly, “If
you want one with a screen on it you’ve got to push the button, OK, none of them stay on the
screen.” The customer looks confused, saying, “What?”
Karen nods to the assistant, saying, “OK, thanks Joe, it’s fine, I’ll take it from here.” Joe rolls his
eyes and turns, walking away. The customer shakes his head at Karen, handing her the clock,
saying, “I don’t need it.” Karen takes it, saying, “OK, sure. That’s fine...” Suddenly Joe shouts
from behind a shelf, “No, they don’t go there any more, they’re in with haberdashery!”
The customer is startled, and confused, and Karen puts a hand on his shoulder, ushering him
away. He says, concerned, “I need to go.” Karen replies, “OK, that’s fine.” He doesn’t move,
just wrings his hands and repeats, “I need to go.” Karen looks around, confused, then asks, “Are
you waiting for someone?” The customer nods, saying, uncertainly, “I’m waiting for my wife.”
Karen nods, saying, “OK, where is she?” The customer gestures, saying, “She’s just gone out for
a minute.” He looks around, confused. Karen scans around, then asks him, “Do you want me
to call her?” He shrugs, saying, “I don’t know.” She persists, calmly, asking, “Do you have a
phone, or...?” He shakes his head, agitated, saying, “I don’t know, I don’t know.”
She pats him gently on the shoulder and says, “Oh that’s OK, that’s OK, come, come and have a
seat.” She gestures and ushers him to a chair, asking him, “Do you have your wallet on you?”
He pats his pockets, retrieving it, and handing it to her. Karen searches inside and finds a card,
holding it up to him, asking, “Is this your wife’s number?” He nods, and she asks, “Do you want
us just to give her a call?” He nods, and smiles, and she smiles back, handing him back the
wallet and saying, “Alright, yeah, I’ll be right back.”
She moves to the counter, glancing over her shoulder at the customer. She smiles at the cashier,
asking, “Hey, could you just keep your eye on that gentleman over there? I’m just going to try
and call his wife for him.” The cashier replies “Sure,” as Karen picks up the phone. Just then,
the assistant approaches, grinning. He lifts a large clock in one hand and a calendar in the other.
Karen shakes her head at him, and his smile fades. He nods, and moves away, awkwardly.