A lot of us have probably gotten that gift from grandma that makes us inwardly go, “Huh?” while outwardly gushing thanks.

Some retail workers understand all too well why this happens.

In this story, we go behind the scenes in the buying process to meet a clueless but well-meaning grandma and the retail worker who tries to help.

Let’s check it out.

“Here’s a picture of her, what size does she wear?”

Just remembered this gem from Christmas, Lots of grandparents wanting to buy shoes for grandkids.

LOTS of not knowing anything about the kid in question.

Can’t wait for this dramatic reenactment.

Grandma (GM): Hi, I need these for my granddaughter, do you think she would like them?

Me: Sure, I think so, they’re simple, and will go with a lot of outfits, and we have a 60 day return policy so if she doesn’t like them they can always be exchanged.

Grandma needed even more help.

GM: Okay, this is a picture of her, what size does she wear?

Me: Ma’am, I can’t possibly tell someone’s shoe size from a photo. Could you possibly call her and ask?

GM: No! It has to be a SURPRISE!!!

She wasn’t about to guess.

Me: Okay, well I don’t want to take a guess and be completely wrong, and have her feelings get hurt. (This has happened before where a guy has bought his GF shoes and she came in offended because, “He thinks I have fat feet!”)

GM: Well she’s 22, and a bit taller than you!

Me: Ma’am, that doesn’t actually help me at all, I know people 4 inches shorter than me who wear shoes twice my size. Age and height are not relative to foot size.

GM: Well what am I supposed to do!?

She offered another suggestion.

Me: Well, as I said, you can call her and ask, or you could always get her a gift card and let her come in herself that way you are 100% sure that she gets exactly what she wants.

GM: Gift card! That’s not a present!

Me: Well, if you do a gift card and then put it with some candy she likes, or some accessories, it can be!

GM: Oh…. I guess? What kind of candy does she like?

There’s no way for her to know.

Me: Well, I have no idea, because I’ve never met her.

GM: Right. Yeah… yeah.

Repeat this about 500x over the month of December.

Yikes. 500 Days of December: The Sequel.

Let’s ring up the comments on Reddit.

This person says, what are you, NOT Santa?

Another person got the deets.

This commenter says, there’s a middleman here.

Another person wants some of OP’s sagacity for themselves.

Someone else says, gift cards = gifts.

Life, and shopping, are full of surprises.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.