I wandered into a book store today that I'd visited five or six times in 2007, spread out across the span of twelve months.
This was my first visit in 2008.
I picked up a magazine, flipped through it, decided to purchase it. As I turned around, I found myself face to face with the store owner. He was choking on his words, trembling, look extremely upset.
I was told by him that I visited his store every day of the week, spent hours reading all the magazines, and never bought anything.
I told him this was my first visit in more than a month, and that last time I had purchased something.
He got angrier, told me I was a liar, and bellowed at me to leave the store.
I put the magazine back (strange how my desire to buy it vanished, eh?) and left. I was feeling confused, and a bit miffed.
I rarely ever visited the store anyway. It's no big loss to me. But I wonder: When and if the customer he's really mad at returns to the store, what will happen? He seemed pretty close to popping.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Huh, that is pretty weird! Perhaps you have an evil twin?
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I frequently 'steal reading' from the local bookstore, but I salve my conscience and their profit margin by purchasing their ridiculous $2 cookies and $2.50 beverages.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Yeah, I rarely visit B&N without at least buying a paperback, or one of their Cheesecake Factory treats.
I'm still puzzling over this one. I -have- entered and left that place without making a purchase before, but my visits were never long and spread far apart.
The evil twin thing may have merit. I'm just a generic, dumpy-looking guy. We are legion.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Is this a chain? If so, I would write nasty letter to the company in question and send a copy to the store manager or owner as well.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Nah, it's a local business. Unless I'm mistaken, the guy who yelled at me was the owner.
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
You should go in again, and when he comes up to talk to you, act like you have no idea what he is talking about... again.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
I get this all the time - I just have one of those faces. My dad gets this too. My mother has actually mistaken other people for both of us.
It's nice when strangers wave, slightly more embarrassing when random people come up and say 'hi', before getting freaked out that I'm not the right person. Worse when something like this happens.
I also get a variation - with a lot of strangers saying 'oh, your brother's over there' or 'I met your sister, she's really nice.' Since I'm an only child, I find this amusing.
Maybe I'm a clone. That would explain a lot.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I used to be mistaken for Harry Potter once upon a time. Nowadays I get mistaken for Sid Meier.
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
I used to get Harry Potter . . .
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: I used to be mistaken for Harry Potter once upon a time. Nowadays I get mistaken for Sid Meier.
I don't even know what Sid Meier looks like.
I once had a strange old woman run up to me screaming and hug me while on the Metrorail platform. It took me over two minutes to clarify that I didn't know who the hell she was and my name wasn't "Carlos".
It's never the attractive women that do that, darn it...
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
I once had a kid at the grocery store ask if I was Peter Parker, followed by repeated requests to spin webs for him. It was amusing to say the least.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
quote:It's never the attractive women that do that, darn it...
Not to you, anyway...*snicker*
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
One rather disreputable gent keeps giving me identity issues. He doesn't look too much like me but he shares my name.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
I don't believe he behaved that way! Why did he wait so long to chastise your doppelganger?
Man, I wish you had your receipts from your prior visits! You should go get your bank statement (if you used a card) with your prior purchases on it, and take it to the owner.
Not that I would want to shop there again, but I hate being yelled at, especially unjustly, and feel that the owner should apologize.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Once when Bob hadn't trimmed his beard for awhile (and it's getting kind of grey) we were at Dairy Queen and this little kid, probably about 2 years old, kept looking over at us and giggling. Then when Bob looked right at him he said "Ho Ho Ho" and burst into giggles. His dad said, "He thinks you're Santa."
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Puffy, that sucks. But I have to admit that it's one thing I love about small businesses: the owners can kick out whoever they want without getting fired. It's annoying working for corporate America and being required to suck up to every jerk.
That said, you should send him a letter with a snapshot of you so that he can compare it when the real jerk comes back.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
In High School I went into the main office to sign in late once to be confronted by an angry secretary saying that I had missed my meeting with the Vice Principal and I had to see her immediately.
I'm wondering what's going on and getting really nervous about what I've done, when she actually looks at me and says, "Oh... sorry, I've got the wrong person."
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
I think we need to see a picture of you now. As a united Hatrack team, maybe we can figure out who you look like.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I had this happen, only in a Game Stop. Except it was me he was talking about....he just was an idiot who didn't know his head for his ....well, you know.
I go there a lot of lunches and play the games and check out a lot of stuff, but I buy a lot of stuff there too. I must have bought 5 or 6 games last year from this one location, including 2 new PC games, and I had 2 360's and a PS3 on hold at different times for family members. I didn't buy them myself, but I had them on hold under my name and I came in with them to buy them.
So I was pretty pissed off when I was told I only play games, and that I never buy anything. The he asked me to leave.
I got that manager fired. His assistant manager knows me well, and when he had heard what had happened he was embarrassed. I complained to district, and had copies of over $2000 in receipts to back up my story, as well as his ASM saying what a good customer I had been.
Had he asked me to take a break, or not to play, I would have been fine with that. Not happy, but I could understand it. This was the first time he had ever spoken to me though, and he made a point of telling me I had never, ever even bought a game there, so I should stop wasting his time.
Both his ASM and I think he confused me with someone else who also works in the mall, but who really never does buy anything and is quite rude.
All he had to do was talk to me for a second and he would have saved himself the trouble though.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
quote:Originally posted by Epictetus: I once had a kid at the grocery store ask if I was Peter Parker, followed by repeated requests to spin webs for him. It was amusing to say the least.
Pic
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
My identity issue is with some guy in Washington whose first and last name only differ from mine by one letter. Our last names are the same any my first name is Bryant and his is Bryan. We also both took a flight on United on 21 December and both lost bags. Somehow his cell phone information ended up on my baggage claim and so he was tracking my bags as well. The silly United customer service even sent my bag from SLC to Washington instead of having it delivered to me. Took me 21 days to get my bag Fortunatly it was on the return flight so I didn't miss it much.
Sergeant
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
I'll have to dig around for a good pic. It's been a few years since I had the Peter Parker hair style.
You guy's will be the first to see and/or ridicule when I find one. Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
This reminds me of Flight of the Conchords' Jenny.
I also remember a story told by Robert D. Hales at a U of U commencement address where a woman accosted a man stealing her car. She pulled a gun on him and he left. She got in, locked all the doors and then found her key didn't start the car.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Ah, yes. He was telling the story of "The Gun-Toting Granny", one of the most popular urban legends. Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
You should have said "Don't you know who I am", just for fun.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
A similar thing happened to me except it wasn't in a store. And instead of a store owner it was a cop. And instead of telling me to leave he told me to put me hands on the police car. Then he called for backup. He even called me a suspect over the radio.
Posted by msquared (Member # 4484) on :
Happens all the time to me. Of course I have an identical twin who lives in the same town, so I understand why it happens.
msquared
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Yeah - I would definitely go back with receipts from prior visits. And prove to him you're not who he thinks you are.
Just for the principle of the thing. It would bug me no end (if it was me) until it got cleared up
(Heck, I'm obsessive enough I'd probably "case" the store over time and see if I could catch my "twin")
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Fortunatly it was on the return flight so I didn't miss it much.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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