Sometimes, people argue just for the sake of arguing.

This retail staff member was checking a tracking number for a customer, but the customer and worker kept trying to correct each other over a trivial detail. This went on much longer than it should have.

Read the amusing full story below.

It’s not “zed” it’s “zee”

This happened a few years ago now, but it makes me laugh every time I think about it. I’m a Canadian living in Canada, and this is a phone conversation I had with a guy in Arizona.

Me: “[Store name], how may I help you?”

Guy: “I sent a package to my friend, and it says that it’s at your store. Can you check?”

OP was happy to help.

Me: “Of course. What is the name on the package?”

Guy: “It’s [name].”

Me: Checks and comes back, “I’m not seeing any packages with that name. Do you have the tracking number?”

Guy: “It’s 1234Z6789.” (Obviously a fake number for storytelling.)

The conversation went on.

Me: “Okay, just to confirm, the number is 1234 ‘zed’ 6789?”

Guy: “No, it’s 1234 ‘zee’ 6789.”

Me: Confused “Yes, 1234 ‘zed’ 6789.”

Guy: “No, 1234 ‘zee’ 6789.”

Let’s try that again.

Me: More confused “That’s what I said—1234 ‘zed’ 6789.”

Guy: “Zee, as in zebra.”

Me: Too dense to realize what he’s arguing about “Yes, zed. That’s what I said.”

The guy finally gives up and confirms that the tracking number is correct.

I give him the status of the package (no personal information about the receiver, just where the tracking says it is) and wish him a good day, still not clocking what he’d been arguing about the entire time.

I didn’t realize what he’d been on about until about a minute later.

All that arguing over how to pronounce the “Z.”

Other people in the comments on Reddit are piping up.

Here’s a valid question.

A hilarious, similar story from this user.

This person understands the confusion.

Another user shares a realization.

And here’s a solid observation.

When you argue over phonetics, important things get lost in translation.

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.