The Kids Know

 So yesterday I had a mother and her...three? four?? children come into the store.

The intention of the mother was to have her kids simply 'look' at the pets.

There hadn't been an active desire on behalf of her to buy them a new pet.

As they'd just lost their guinea pig the day before unexpectedly. As they'd had the guinea pig for under a year...and normally those live for like 5-7 years.

So it was rather odd to have it pass away so quickly.

And it seemed to be more traumatizing to the mother than to the kids.

Because the youngest was like "Our guinea pig DIED!" with a smile on her face. 

Obviously not upset.

And the kids were like "We want this guinea pig!" They'd picked out the one from the cage they wanted and named it and everything. Even had the start of supplies gathered. Some new things for said guinea pig.

And I'd been under the impression that the mother was all ready to get the guinea pig because the kids told me that they were ready to get it.

But when I got the paperwork to the mother to sign...

She was hesitant. She wasn't sure if she wanted them to get another guinea pig. Even though not two minutes earlier she'd been talking with the kids about a potential house to buy to put inside the cage and had grabbed a bag of bedding. 

No, the mother was thinking that maybe she should get her kids a leopard gecko instead as she remembered having one a few years ago and those lived 'a lot longer' and she didn't mind the crickets that she would need to feed it every day.

But she didn't have quite the setup needed for the leopard gecko. Just an old fish tank she wanted to convert.

So I took her over to the reptile aisle to show her what was needed for the leopard gecko...all while the kids are still telling her that they want a guinea pig and the littlest kid is constantly tugging on my pant leg wanting me to get her her guinea pig.

So I ended up taking her over to the guinea pig cages and talked over the possibility of getting two instead of just one as maybe the first guinea pig had been lonely and sizes of cages that they would need and such....

Only to have the customer still not ready to commit to signing paperwork for the guinea pig.

I ended up leaving them to 'think it over' so that I could go take a lunch break and just break away from the customer as the dithering was getting on my nerves.

By the time I got back from lunch they had left the store without buying either creature.

And I'd hoped that they might go home and think it over for a few days.

No such luck, they came back yesterday a couple of hours later and finally ended up getting a guinea pig. Though not after a bit of waffling from the mother who was like "Maybe we should get a cat instead, but I don't know if the kids are old enough for a cat yet and that responsibility"

I wasn't quite sure about that particular logic...having had cats myself since I was a baby and the youngest kid was probably four or five? 

*shakes head*

In any case. They bought the guinea pig and left the store...and I figured I wouldn't see them again. 

*exhales*

But fifteen minutes before I was off today.

They came back into the store.

The kids were like "HEY REMEMBER US! YOU HELPED US YESTERDAY!"

And I was like "....yes...." 

All the while I was mentally screaming because I've had a migraine all day today and having to deal with the off the walls energy the kids were giving off along with the little one wanting to stick to my side like a little shadow following me practically everywhere constantly tugging on my pant leg and wanting to 'help' me move things and hold things....it was... a lot. A lot to deal with when I was low on energy and solely focused on surviving to the end of my shift.

And I had no idea why they would be back in the store 24 hours after they bought their guinea pig, though I figured they had either already decided to bring it back/or killed it, or they wanted to get a second guinea pig.

Turns out it was neither.

No one of the kids decided that they wanted a hamster so they'd come into the store to get one.

....Which is rather weird because hamsters only live like...maybe 2 years? And the mother had been rather traumatized by the fact that their guinea pig had only lived a year...so why she was willing to let her kids get a pet that is known to not live long...I have no idea.

And I tried to explain to the mom that a) the hamster doesn't live that long and b) the hamster that we have currently in the store isn't the best pet to play with as they're fast...but I'm pretty sure she didn't hear word I said because she gave no indication of hearing me.

Which makes sense because it seemed like every time I tried to speak one of the kids was there talking over me to the mom.

As they were still quite the energetic kids they were yesterday, basically bouncing off the walls excited that they were getting a pet.

I mean I had to tell the customer like six times that the "Robo Dwarf Hamster" and the "Robovosoki Hamster" (we had a new tag out where the robos have their full name written out instead of the short version) were the exact same hamster before she comprehended that 'oh hey they're the same hamster.'

*rolls eyes* 

In any case. I gave up trying to explain to the customer that the hamster wasn't a good pet.

She'll figure it out soon enough.

So I grabbed the hamster --after dithering from the mother once more as they had thought there was only one hamster available and I made the mistake of pointing out the second cage of hamsters we had and the mother proceeded to question her kid's choice that they wanted the 'white one' and insisted that the kid come look at the other hamsters and make sure they actually wanted the white one.

Honestly at this point she should just trust that her kids know what they want because the child didn't change their mind, they still wanted the hamster they'd pointed out the first time.

But because the mother insisted that they look at the other hamsters one of the siblings was like "I WANT ONE NOW!"

I was hoping that if I left with the first hamster -after telling the customer that two hamsters won't do well in the same cage together. That the mom would remain firm in them only 'getting one hamster' if I was out of sight and already had the other hamster up at the register.

No dice.

A minute later she comes up to me saying that they want a second hamster -for a second cage they would be getting.

*exhales*

And the entire time I'm trying to help them with the hamsters the youngest kid had decided to become my shadow and is following me around everywhere, tugging on my pants, trying to reach up and 'help' me hold things or move things.

And like it was adorable. It was cute.

But with the pandemic going on and the child being maskless because she was young enough that today she didn't wear a mask...I had no desire to be that close to the kid.

Add on to the fact that I was suffering from a migraine I really didn't want to be anywhere near the kids longer than I had to. They had too much energy.

So with one last check on the customer --who was dithering over potential cages to get for the second hamster...

I made my escape and left work because my shift was over and i had no desire to stay overtime and try and help them further.

Hopefully the customer and kids are happy with their new pets.

Guess we'll see in the coming days if any of them get returned. 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi