Stupid is bone deep. That's a fact.

My husband and I went to a well known discount retailer today to buy some furniture for a family we know that is in desperate need. We picked out a sofa, a coffee table and some end tables. Not high-end stuff, mind you, but something clean, new, that might make them feel good. The sales guy was happy enough to ring up the purchase, extolling the virtues of the fabric, the construction, blah blah blah.

Then, as he's typing in millions of digits that apparently translate to "coffee table and end tables," he begins to frown. He goes over to the display pieces and turns them this way and that, examining them as if they just fell fromt the sky onto his showroom floor. He comes back to the register, scratches his head, and tells us that he has none in the warehouse. No big deal really, except he had just told us he had plenty. No problem. He offered to sell us the display pieces, but it looked like someone had beaten the hell out of them. With an ice pick.  He offered us a 20% discount, and my husband told him where to park his display pieces.

So we bought the couch, and he told us to pull our truck around so that they could bring the new one out to us. We did as we were told, and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, my husband went BACK inside to ask what the holdup was. Mr. Salesperson was chatting up some other woman, probably selling her the floor samples.  When  my husband inquired as to what was taking so long, Mr, Salesperson said. "Oh uh sorry. We don't have the couch either."

My husband's head does the neatest trick when stuff like this happens. It rotates - 360 degrees - as he spews his opinion about whatever the topic may be. Fascinating, really.

Is it asking too much, I wonder, to think? To use your head for something other than, well, for SOMETHING? This is not a mom-and-pop organization. It's a national retailer. This guy could walk upright. I'm assuming he tied his own shoes this morning, and I also assume he drove to work. Is it that hard, folks? Really?

So an hour and Lord knows how much wasted gas later, we went home empty-handed. People amaze me. And stupid runs deep. Bone deep, I'm telling you.