Cable ties and wire ties

This isn't really a true nonversational moment, but it's close and it's an amusing recollection in any case.

One day, on my real estate rounds, I noticed that one of my yard signs was hanging improperly. I was out in the wilds, with a two month old baby in tow and a very limited window of opportunity to get anything done.

I knew that I couldn't easily get my hands on the correct sized jump ring to rehang the lopsided sign. The one that had been there had rusted and snapped. Not to worry though, through the haze of my 'new momma' fog, I had a startling moment of clarity. There was an auto store fairly close by and they would have cable ties.

Inside the store, I waited and waited and waited while the men thereabouts cut-up with each other and took forever to look up and acknowledge me. I was afraid to wander off to find a cable tie on my own as I have no clue how these stores are laid out and my infant carrier and infant weighed like a small elephant. Instead, I stood patiently, trying to emit my very best damsel in distress vibes. 

Eventually, a nice young man appeared and offered assistance. I asked him if the store sold cable ties. He said he didn't know what I was talking about.

Retaining a measure of calm, I proceeded to describe them. Plastic strips - like a miniature belt - you thread one end through the other - there are teeth that lock the strap so it can't move back in the opposing direction - you use them to tie things like cables together - and so on.

The young man said he still didn't know what I was talking about, but he might have something similar. I followed closely behind him as he led me to a whole section with signage that said ... 'Cable Ties.' Hmm .. interesting! However, in my relief that this was over, I said nothing other than to thank him and ask him what he called these things, so that I would know how to ask for them if I needed them in the future. He answered very exactly, 'Oh, these are wire ties.'

I made a mental note that indeed, some of the packs were called 'cable ties' and some were called 'wire ties', an interchangable term it seems.

I was a bit startled at the lack of initial understanding, but all's well that ends well and the young man was at least trying to be helpful; so I left happily with a bit of extra chalked up knowledge and my wire ties.