Conversation at the entrance to Sam's Club:
She: I'm sorry, sir. Is that your book?
Me: No. It's ...
She (interrupting): Are you returning it?
Me: No. It's ...
She (interrupting again): Well, we'll have to put a sticker on it.
Me: But it already has a permanent sticker on it.
She: A permanent sticker? Let me see.
Me: See. It belongs to the Sacramento Public Library. I thought I'd read some while eating pizza from your gourmet food court.
She (not catching sarcasm): Oh. I guess you're right. You don't need a sticker.
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Conversation at the Exit from Sam's Club:
He (just a bit officiously): Just a minute, sir. Can I see that book?
Me: Sure.
He (pulling out the slip of paper in the book and visually scanning it): This isn't the sales slip. Can I see the sales slip?
Me: I don't have it. It isn't my book.
He (trying to look older and wiser than me): Well, you can't just take any book out of here, you know. Whose book is it?
Me: The label here says it belongs to the Sacramento Public Library.
He (finally connecting the dots): Oh. I just pulled out your bookmark, didn't I? Have a nice day and come back soon.
Me: You have a good day, too.
Yeah, I noticed some years ago that the folks at Sam's were not likely to have been hired for their "book smarts." Usually nice folks, though.
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