The shop assistant was on the floor with his back against the counter, staunching the blood.
He used is handkerchief as a bandage and made his way to the toilet to clean up. After cleaning the shop floor and applying several sticky plasters to his leg, he went back behind the counter knowing that the boss was due back in just a few minutes.
It was an irony, because the morning had started really well. As the boss was taking the morning off, he was left in charge of the shop. He made two sales by ten o’clock; a pair of shoes to a boy who came in with his mother, and an elderly gentleman who purchased an expensive jacket. Late in the morning he sold several pairs of socks and a tie, all in quick succession.
That alone would have been enough to please the boss when he came in, but it got even better. Better that is, for the shop. He had managed to sell a suit that had been hanging at the back of the rack for ages. It wasn’t a nice looking thing; the truth being it was really hideous. The style was a very early form of double-breasted, with a broad stripe of yellow against a blue coarse weave.
The gentleman had tried it on, spent time shrugging his shoulders and tugging at the cuffs, finally saying how comfortable it was. He hadn’t haggled about the price and he had paid in cash.
When the manager came in he couldn’t help gloating as he told him about the sales. He even pulled the rack out to prove that the ugly suit had gone. The boss was delighted and patted him on the back.
As they walked back to the counter the boss noticed the limp.
He asked “What’s wrong with your leg?”
The assistant immediately looked very uncomfortable.
“Oh! That! Yes, well, as the customer left the shop his guide dog bit me.”
