Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t shared this story on this blog yet.
Years ago someone asked me if my workplace had any adamantium pans.
She wasn’t laughing when she asked.
Her facial expression was completely serious. Slightly stern, even.
“No,” I said. “We only have metal ones.”
Disappointment flooded her face.
“Do you know where I can find one?”
I had a choice in that moment. I could tell her that adamantium only exists in the Marvel universe. From her facial expression and body language, I wasn’t sure she’d believe me. She looked so earnest and eager to find it.
I could play along and recommend another store to try. That seemed cruel, though. This didn’t come across to me as the kind of joke she was in on or would appreciate.
Or I could do nothing.
“Sorry, I don’t know of any places that sell it.” The exchange ended, and she melted back into the crowd.
Sometimes I still wonder what her backstory was. Did she have a young relative who jokingly told her it was a superior metal alloy for baking delicate desserts? Did she misread something online and accidentally come to the conclusion that this was something available to people in our universe?
Was she pulling my leg?
The world will never know, but still I wonder.
What’s the most surreal thing that’s ever happened to you?
Wow, that seems like such a strange encounter! She might have been joking, but then I would have thought she would have smiled or something at the end of the exchange….weird.
I have to say that my grandpa and my dad like to gently tease store employees sometimes. For example, my dad once said this to someone in the grocery store. “I see the all-purpose flour here, but can you tell me where the no-purpose flour is?” Of course the employee was speechless, but my dad smiled and let them in on the joke at the end and they both had a laugh. 🙂
Haha, that’s great. 😀
Maybe she was looking for aluminium pans, and just got her words scrambled?
I’d never considered that possibility. Fascinating.
Once a man walked up to me after a church service and handed me a bag or small box and mumbled something that I would know what to do with it and walked away. Never saw him again. Inside were 50 Troy ounces of silver. I still have one to this day. I cashed them in and bought a used riding lawnmower. Strange but true.
That is so cool. I didn’t know that story.