Not your cable

As I've said before, and quite contrary to his father (me Grandpa Joe) little could set off me Pops. But what did set him off, set him off.

We sell things, drain snakes and drain snake parts and accessories, as many of you know. So we have often fielded calls about this or that. 'Cosgriff, do you have a 3/4 cable?' and the like. If when taking such a call we did in fact have one, me Pops would of course answer that yes, we did. "Cool, Cosgriff. I'll be down soon to get it."

When, as happened with some regularity, they didn't come down soon to get it (and this was before credit cards were used to hold things) Pops would sell the cable to someone else. Invariably, sometimes several weeks to a month after vowing to quickly get it, the original caller would arrive.

"I'm here to get that cable, Cosgriff."

"I sold it," me Pops would plainly say.

Incredulously, late customer would snort, "Aw man, you sold my cable?"

"No, I sold MY cable!" the old man would snort right back at them, except with deeper emphasis. It was his until it was sold, not some latecomer's, who would then get a lecture on how me Pops owned it until HE sold it, because that that was how sales worked.

Such attitudes irritated me Dad, and I'm with him on that.