Parts Department?

 (2.15 minute read)

 Check please

We acquire stories as we move through life.

Over the years my older brother Pat worked a lot of different jobs providing fertile ground for lots of different experiences like the time when he was between jobs and delivered handbills to bring in some money. He got attacked by a German Shepherd and ended up rolling around on the ground scattering handbills. Knowing that he would have the exact same route the next week he decided to be better prepared. He bought himself some mace. And he was indeed attacked again by the same German Shepherd.  Unfortunately, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he ended up macing himself and still had to fight the dog.

One particularly favorite story of his came from the time that he worked the parts counter at a motorcycle shop.  Since he rode motorcycles, it was a great gig.  So, one day he gets a call from a guy wanting a part for his cycle.  He tells the guy that they have it.

Guy says, “Are you sure you have it?”

Pat, “Yep.”

“How do you know you have it?”

Saying the obvious, “The inventory shows we have it.”

“How do you know the inventory is right?”

“I do the inventory and I know we have it.”

Guy says, “Well, the last time that I came there for a part that the guy said you had when I got there you didn’t have the part.”

“Well, that wasn’t me and we’ve got your part.”

“Are you sure you have it?  I don’t want to come down there and find out you haven’t got it.”

“Okay, you know what?  I’ll go and check to make sure that we have the part.”  Pat stops and goes to physically check to make sure that the part’s there.  Comes back and tells the guy that the part is there.

“You’re sure you have the part?”

“Yes.”

Guy says, “IF you’re sure you have the part I’ll come and pick it up.” 

Now, there was more back and forth after this in the conversation but I don’t want to get repetitious more than I already have been.  Suffice it to say that Pat had finally had enough.

“You’re sure you have the part?”

Pat, “You know what?  We don’t have the part.”

“WHAT!  I thought you just said that you had the part!”

“Well, I thought we had it, but you talked me out of it. Now we don’t have it.”

The guy is very irate and demands to speak to the manager.  The manager, also the owner, had been standing beside Pat the entire time listening to the conversation and was laughing.  Pat gave him the phone.  While the owner was laughing he told the guy that they didn’t have the part and was sorry that they couldn’t help him and hung up.