25+ Confused customers: '[I] had a request for Chicken Godzilla salad'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 26, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Retail workers try their hardest to help their customers, but some customers have literally no idea what they want. Or they have the idea in their head, but they have no way to translate this thought to the retail worker. 

According to some folks who work retail or food service, customers think they're mind readers. Apparently, a lot of them will come into a store and say they're "looking for something like this," followed by a random gesture that could mean just about anything. Oh, that vague arm wave was supposed to represent… a vest? They might try to describe something they saw online that their daughter showed them… and that's all the detail they're able to give to the worker. 

As many people below shared, they do their best to help these people, but it's not always easy. Things get lost in translation, and some customers get easily flustered or frustrated. At least they're giving the workers a laugh during an otherwise dull work day!

Next, read the insane saga of the AI program that permanently deleted a company's database, and then informed the CEO, "I destroyed months of your work in seconds." 

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  • 01

    This is cute

    luc_c11 Called red pepper flakes spicy sprinkles
    via u/luc_c11
  • 02

    Never ordering these any other way

    scarletnightingale A friend told me how her mom went into a Mexican restaurant and tried to order "Fur-gee-tas". Apparently she wanted Fajitas.
    via u/scarletnightingale
  • 03
    batnip A kid came in to booster juice (smoothie shop) once and asked for "Red".
    via u/batnip
  • 04

    Zippy zap, zap straps

    S.. OP At a hardware store: "Where do you keep your zippy-zaps?" My what? "You know. Your zap straps." ...what?
    via u/szthesquid
  • 05
    "You know. Your zippy-grippies." I don't... "You know. Zip ties." Ohhhh. Right over here at the front.
    via u/szthesquid
  • 06
    Funny thing was, the guy wasn't at all annoyed or angry that I didn't know what he meant. He just kept trying different names until he found one I knew, then thanked me and went about his business.
    via u/szthesquid
  • 07
    theTribbly Ohhhh boy. I work at a restaraunt that does take outs and deliveries. A woman calls up one night and I ask her if she wants to do an order for take out or delivery. She says "I want a take out". Anyway, we make the order and it's just sitting on the counter for ages. After about an hour she still hasn't shown up, so I call her up and ask her if she's
    via u/theTribbly
  • 08
    gonna pick up her food. She says "NO. I want a take out FOR HERE." "So you're going to come here and take it out?" "NO. I want you to come to my house SO I CAN TAKE IT OUT FROM HERE." "So you want a delivery?" "I WANT A TAKE OUT FOR HERE"
    via u/theTribbly
  • 09
    At this point I give up and tell the delivery driver that it's a delivery. When he gives her the food, she tells him "well it took you long enough" and goes off on us for not delivering it to her house.
    via u/theTribbly
  • 10
    MDemagogue Person came into my friends store once looking for a Spaghetti stay water go.
    via u/MDemagogue
  • 11
    tac... Handsocks. She meant gloves I think.
    via u/taco_girl
  • 12
    acogbill An Old man once asked me where the "ogee floogee" was. He wanted to find the TV remotes. Nothing made me more confused.
    via u/acogbill
  • 13
    gellman We had a salad with Chicken and Gorgonzola cheese. In the course of an hour had a request for Chicken Godzilla salad and Chicken Gonzo salad. When I dropped it off, I warned them that the Gonzo salad was a bit of a weirdo.
    via u/gellman
  • 14
    HandFancy Customers would very frequently and confidently invent models of Apple computers, "I'm looking for a Mac Pro iBook Air II with ReTEENah display." or something like that.
    via u/HandFancy
  • 15
    Elkaybay An old guy: "Where do you keep the sodium chloride"? Told him where the salt was. He was sad he couldn't trick me.
    via u/Elkaybay
  • 16
    Blu... I had a customer ask for "paper a ", preferably the sticky ones and not the ones you lick. He wanted hole punch reinforcements.
    via u/BlueMacaw
  • 17
    kmoneyrecords Heard a very very large dude behind us at a restaurant asking the waitress "Hey can I get some of them little breads?" "Sorry what?"
    via u/kmoneyrecords
  • 18
    "You know, them little breads." "Like dinner rolls?" "No I mean like for my salad" Croutons. He was talking about croutons.
    via u/kmoneyrecords
  • 19
    molrobocop Salad gravy. This was kansas. They were looking for dressing.
    via u/molrobocop
  • 20
    Zepheh I wouldnt call it unusual but it drove me batty hearing people call food at Burgerking by their McDonalds counterparts' names.
    via u/Zepheh
  • 21
    [deleted] I used to work in a small computer store back in the day. People would come up to me and ask if we had Windows Fiesta in stock. "Yes ma'am we do but I can guarantee you it's not worth celebrating".
    via u/[deleted]
  • 22
    Ikersain Taco Bread... So... Tortillas
    via u/Ikersain
  • 23
    655321x I work at a liquor, and I understand that certain things are hard to pronounce, but some of the attempts I have heard are astounding. My favorite would have to be when a lady pronounced "Pinot noir" as "peanut no ear"
    via u/655321x
  • 24
    deskpalm When I was way younger I didn't know what English muffins were actually called. So I went into a grocery store to ask if they had McMuffins, since that's all I knew them by. ...young, naive me.....
    via u/deskpalm
  • 25
    [deleted] I worked at a clothing store while I was going to school, and we sold shoes. One day this guy came in and we were talking about leather shoes, and he says "the shoes I'm wearing right now are fox leather." I said "pardon". He says "ya, fox leather" . meaning faux leather. It really caught on, | say it all the time now, even if we go for pho, I call it fox.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    adagietto Had a lady ask for hoopers at an ice cream store. She wanted Whoppers (like the malted milk balls).
    via u/adagietto
  • 27
    [deleted] When I was 11 My dad and I went to Dairy Queen to get ice cream, and I was super excited to try the brownie batter blizzard! for background: At the time, I had a bit of a stutter. We get to the counter and my dad ordered a sundae, and I proceed to order. what came out of my mouth was "Can I get a brown bladder battered lizard" My dad bent
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    over d ng of laughter, and the girl behind the counter tried to hide her laughter to no avail. She managed to ask if I wanted a Brownie batter blizzard and I squeaked out a yes. I was a bright shade of crimson for the rest of evening. The Blizzard was good though, and kinda made up for the embarrassment, but I could never go back to that DQ again.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    TheBottomOfTheTop I was the customer. I was looking for a grip extender, but in my house for some reason we call it a "gribber grabber." The employee looked at me like I had 2 heads.
    via u/TheBottomOfTheTop
  • 30
    Scondoro What they order "I'd like a large Coke." Translation: "I'd like a large soda of a type that I'll tell you in a second. Spoiler: it won't actually be a Coke."
    via u/Scondoro
  • 31
    Cheezburger Image 10534301184
    via Nachristos on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 32
    bucciryan Not retail I've worked in a gym for years. Best one was someone who on a tour asked if we had things to pick up and put down that were different heavinesses. It was like he went out of his way not to use the word weight. I said yes and told him we even marked them all so you'd know how heavy each one was. Blew his frikken mind.
    via u/bucciryan
  • 33
    JIRAtheguy Apparently, not everybody knows what kielbasa is, and it took me 30 minutes to find it at a store when I was on vacation a few states away once.
    via u/JIRAtheguy
  • 34
    Cheezburger Image 10534301440
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 35
    daneelthesane About a decade and a half ago, I was working retail at a dollar store. One fellow who had one of those faces that made you wonder if he was related to himself came up to me, and asked... I sh you not... "Do you have the thing with the thing that comes out?" | gave him a second to see if he would realize what he
    via u/daneelthesane
  • 36
    had said and provide some detail. After a beat or two, I said, "I'm sorry, sir, you will have to be a bit more specific. What thing are you looking for?" He made hand gestures, almost as if he were pulling open a door or something, and said, "You know... one of those things with the thing that comes out."
    via u/daneelthesane
  • 37
    Managing not to lose my temper, I said, "Sir... What does the thing do?" He said, "It makes coffee." I said, "Are you asking if we have coffee makers that have filter baskets that can be pulled completely out?" "Yes," he said. I replied, "No, sir, we don't have the thing with the thing
    via u/daneelthesane
  • 38
    that comes out, we only have the thing with the thing that swivels out. Sorry." Later, he came up to me. He held up a box of 35 gallon. trash bags. He asked me, "Will these fit in that?" and he pointed at a trash can that was clearly marked, "50 Gallons". I said, "No, sir." He asked, "Why not?"
    via u/daneelthesane
  • 39
    I said, "Because that is a fifty gallon trash can, and those are thirty five gallon bags." He looked at me blankly for a moment. I added, "Thirty five is less than fifty." "Ah," he said, nodding sagely.
    via u/daneelthesane
  • 40

    Buddy meant "frock"

    Ohhrubyy I had someone say he needed some new flocks for his daughter. He said it like four times before he gestured to a dress and I realized he was looking for dresses. Is 'flock' a word for dresses somewhere else in the world?
    via u/Ohhrubyy
  • 41
    車
    via Jeremy on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 42
    MasterBlasterPhD I work at a Vans store in Utah, and someone asked me if we sold knickerbockers.
    via u/MasterBlasterPhD
  • 43
    [de... Calling 3 prong outlets "110's". "Do you have a USB to 110 cable?" Apparently it's because outlets are 110 volts. I've only ever heard it from men age 60 and older. Also been asked for "HDM One" cables more than a few times.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 44
    itsandrock I used to sell sporting goods. During the winter we would have a lot of people (almost always non-English speakers) refer to ice skates as "skating shoes." I suppose it's probably a direct translation but still made me chuckle.
    via u/itsandrock
  • 45
    FDGSA16 Auto parts store: "I need pills for my car" Umm.. what? Break pads. He needed break pads.
    via u/FDGSA16
  • 46
    Sal... When I worked at an ice cream shop, it seemed like everyone had a different word for cake cones. Most common were flat cones and safety cones. Also jimmies. Apparently some places it means sprinkles in general, and other places it means chocolate sprinkles in particular.
    via u/SalemScout
  • 47

    Incredible

    SLEESTAK85 A waitress at the fairly fancy restaurant I used to work at called Stella Artois, "Stella Arterous"
    via u/SLEESTAK85
  • 48

    To this barista, thank you for your honesty

    Infared Riding Hood Barista here I hate all of you. It's a Latte, pronounced La- tay It is not a la-tot-ta, it is not a lat, it is not a laten Whip cream, not "white stuff," saying you want a coffee "with cream" is a different thing.
    via u/InfaredRidingHood
  • 49
    Finally grande, no one seems to be able to pronounce this right at all. It's not hard, I repeat it back correctly, I can understand you mispronouncing stuff, but if you come here everyday you should learn the name of the thing you order daily.
    via u/InfaredRidingHood
  • 50
    Natskincap I work at a concert venue. People really butcher some of the artists name. A lot of people had trouble pronouncing Ray LaMontagne
    via u/Natskincap
  • 51
    AaronfromKY Old-timers call stuffed bell peppers mangoes. Especially when they're looking for Stouffer's brand frozen ones.
    via u/AaronfromKY
  • 52
    catmom666 I used to work at an outdoor retail store that carried Patagonia. People would call all the time asking if we "had any Pata-gourd-ias."
    via u/catmom666
  • 53
    LIMWZ My husband Side of the family calls things like hoovers and belt sanders a 'huuu' (bc that's the sound they make). Somehow the actual word for an electric whisk got lost in my brain and I asked the lady for a huu. She looked at me like I had just grown a second head.
    via u/LIMWZ

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