2 oranda in a 1 gallon!!!
- Thread starter pezzy
- Start date
The worker just turned around and had like the most evilest glare ever. He said "You can...if you want to kill him in the next 2 weeks that is." The womans face just dropped. "What? But people always have goldfish in bowls. When I was 8 years old I had a goldfish in a bowl." At this point the worker was getting pretty annoyed and replied "Goldfish can live 15-20 years. If you had a goldfish in a bowl, it may have been only for a month." And then he turned back to his work.
I have to say-- I am a goldfish keeper and enthusiast (with a few decent sized tanks,) but if an employee (no matter how well meaning) ever spoke to me in that rude of a manner, his manager would know about it, as would the regional manager. Nothing wrong with educating a customer about goldfish, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it so that you will be listened to.
I have to say-- I am a goldfish keeper and enthusiast (with a few decent sized tanks,) but if an employee (no matter how well meaning) ever spoke to me in that rude of a manner, his manager would know about it, as would the regional manager. Nothing wrong with educating a customer about goldfish, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it so that you will be listened to.
Can't say I'd bother calling the higher ups, but there is definitely a way to go about it and that (rude) was not it. You have to win hearts and minds, and even then, some people just don't care. I was listening to an idiot today asking how his new betta would fare against his new demasonis (both bagged up courtesy of petco.) I doubt the guy was even worried about water parameters, ph and whatnot. He would probably not keep an aquarium for more than a few weeks, and thats not a loss to the hobby. A doofus I work with just stocked his new 10g with "a bunch of fish." When asked what kind, he responded with "dude, I got blue, red, green..." I'll spare you the rest. He was also curious to know when the cloudiness would clear up. I tried to explain, but as soon as it got the slightest bit technical, he was on to wanting to see them fight. The best spoken reasoning will not affect these people, nor the cruelest verbal abuse. They will tire of torturing fish sooner than later, moving on to kittens or whatever comes next. Dealing with them sucks, but dropping down to their level doesn't improve things either. Prevention would probably work best, but labeling bettas as "siamese fighters" or labeling an aquarium system with 2 orandas in a 1 gallon only perpetuates it. Too bad companies (not all of them mind you) don't care what happens with the tank after its sold. Whether it houses appropriate fish for years or goes in the trash two weeks later, thats $xx.xx in the bank to them.
same deal word for word at my local fair on thursday (the 2nd). we wound up throwing much more ping pong balls than we wanted so we could trade in six tickets (each good for one fish) for a hermit crab. we bought the other one, a bunch of sea shells and a few other things between our lps and walmart the next day.
all that cause my 4 year old wanted to play. after about $30 he decided he wanted the tickets... so yeah we got 2 hermit crabs and they are now out of those ridiculous gaudy shells.
oh and get this the goldfish were actually koi and one was in the "center bowl" you know the "choice bowl". unbelievable when we're surrounded by cops and emt's and noone can do anything. you know the people you should be able to assume would care.
and the rude boy... i am not sure if i want to applaud him or spank him and put him to bed (with cookies). i mean cummon that's a life we're talking about... he should be allowed to be rude in certain cases imo.
my 2 yr old did get the kid working the stand in the head with a ball though... go baby girl! :lipssealedsmilie:
Personally I have refused to set foot in one of the big stores in a long time, howver if I dealt with someone that rude I probably would not have left to speak with someone else...
I deal with this almost daily. I work at Petsmart and constantly have to deal with people thinking they know everything about fish, reptiles, hamsters, etc. I hate having to deal with it. There are the occasional people who will listen and take my advice to heart, but most just blow it off and resume to doing things their way. Thankfully, as snappyguy said, we do have the right to refuse selling animals to anyone we feel will not have the right set up and knowledge for them.
I remember going with my friend two days ago to get his gecko and the pet store guy said that sand was good for them. Using my super awesome gecko keeping skillz, I told the pet store guy how sand can go into their stomachs and get breathed in by them and how newspaper was better. In the meantime, I saw some ADD looking kid who had 3 goldfish in a bag who looked like he was gonna take them home in a bowl, and I sorta facepalmed. The pet store guy who was gonna get us the gecko said "The newspaper ink will get ingested by the geckos and kill them." And I told him about paper towels, and (here comes the lulzy part) he gets the most nervous look for a few seconds and says "OH JUST GET THE CALCIUM SAND."
After that the ADD kid or whatever bought his goldfish and I was gonna tell him how goldfish should be kept in larger tanks, but I was too tired and didn't wanna make a tard monkey out of myself. So we bought the baby gecko that was about to shed, we bought some hiding places and took advantage of the sale, we bought the sand and the 15 gallon, and then we headed out.
But the key part is how my Petco needs to learn to animals. And how I totally owned that pet store guy.
Also the game.
After that the ADD kid or whatever bought his goldfish and I was gonna tell him how goldfish should be kept in larger tanks, but I was too tired and didn't wanna make a tard monkey out of myself. So we bought the baby gecko that was about to shed, we bought some hiding places and took advantage of the sale, we bought the sand and the 15 gallon, and then we headed out.
But the key part is how my Petco needs to learn to animals. And how I totally owned that pet store guy.
Also the game.
I was a bad person once, I didn't know any better. I had one of those 1 gallon tanks. I bought a 1" black moor. Bugsy. I LOVED that fish. He grew in that tank to be about 4" when I finally moved him to a 20 gallon, and bought 3 others...I know, I know. They all got 5-7" and I left them in the care of my mother while I went on vacation for a week. I came home and they were all dead.
I still love goldfish, maybe someday I will get another one.
ETA: Bugsy was about 5 years old when he died.
I still love goldfish, maybe someday I will get another one.
ETA: Bugsy was about 5 years old when he died.
Last edited:
that is really horrible i hate hearing stuff like that next time you should just tell her that there gonna die and she shouldnt just suffer fish like that. and i agree it should be against the law!
funny that's how i was duped into the hobby kinda. this makes my last post about the fair relevant again lol. my brother in law came back from the fair with 5 goldfish, a 1 gallon corner tank and some blue marbles. at that point none of us had a clue about fish. after 3yrs of amano, chuck gladd, tom barr, d walstad, rex grigg... yadda yadda... here i am. things are a lot different obviously nowadays lol.
