Mall Experience

Tell me if I'm way off base but I thought this was weird and worth writing about. I went to the mall last night to have the nose piece fixed on my glasses since the one side was broken in two. I could tell immediately the lady behind the desk was annoyed at my presence. I'm used to that by now.

Before I presented my dilemma I offered some pleasant words and an amiable tone to help make the experience go well for the both of us. That didn't seem to work but she could have had a short fuse and an explosive temper; after all, it was near the end of the day and by the way she looked, it was probably past her bedtime and she was due for some Metamucil. I figured that while I may not have cheered her up I probably spared my family from having to make my funeral arrangements.

"The nose piece on my glasses broke and I was wondering if you could fix it," I kindly inquired.

I guess at this point I expected something like, "Oh, we can take care of you. We can fix your glasses. Let me take a look and you'll be on your way in no time." No. Here's what I got.

"Well, if it's broke I can't fix it. But I can put a new nose piece on for you."

Duh. No kidding. Really?

It wasn't obvious to her that I was asking her to fix my glasses instead of mending the two broken pieces together with superglue. Perhaps I should have asked the question differently but I'm thinking she should have realized what I was actually asking and responded accordingly. Am I way off base here? Should I have expected more from this post-menopausal mall-worker or should I, a post-late-twenties professional, have decoded my riddle into something most common folk can understand?