8 ms·

The kids knew sign language? The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so

by pud 14y ago

The kids knew sign language? The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? No bulk discount or pre-arranged deal? All other employees in the mall were mean to deaf kids? Author doesn't remember which Apple product was debuting? I hate to be "that guy" -- but this story is most likely fiction.

69_years_and 14y ago
I am sorry to have agree with you, but yes the contradictions did start piling up. As they say, photos, please, or it didn't happen.
- darkchasma 14y ago
  A picture of a bunch of kids and a teacher would prove what exactly?
  - 69_years_and 14y ago
    Sorry dark, that bit... was a joke. It was playing on a common internet saying that people say to their friends (and others) when they say something, you know, like, I meet the Prezz, surly you have run into it before. Jezz I hate having to explain my jokes. I'll need to get that looked at.
    - darkchasma 14y ago
      As was my comment, so we're even. ;)
      - 69_years_and 14y ago
        Touché my friend ;)
concerto 14y ago
My first thought too. What kind of budget did the kids have on this day out? How do I get my kids into that school?
- Cthulhu_ 14y ago
  > How do I get my kids into that school? Paying $30K - $50K a year in tuition fees should do it.
webwielder 14y ago
And why were there tears at the end? Was everyone so moved at the theoretical plight of real deaf kids that they broke down? Also, I imagine real deaf people don't have a habit of walking up to salespeople and assuming they know sign language.
- jdmichal 14y ago
  And even if they did, I think they would get the hint pretty quick that the other side doesn't understand it...
webwielder 14y ago
Come to think of it, this story isn't about Apple or the Apple Store at all. A better title would be "The Time I Wasn't Mean to Fake Deaf Kids and Felt Great About It".
- charlieok 14y ago
  The Apple Store part was to get internet points.
mistercow 14y ago
Also, Mac Specialists at the Apple store don't go in the back to fetch inventory. They call it back.
- boldfield 14y ago
  It hasn't always been that way actually. I worked apple retail while in college for 2 years, and we only had 'runners' to bring inventory up from the back the last 6 months I was there... and the white macbooks were released at the time the "Specialists" (salespeople) were responsible for doing the running themselves.
- nsp 14y ago
  They did at his store - it's substantially faster than waiting
  - mistercow 14y ago
    It is not faster than waiting, because there's no waiting. You do other things while it's being brought out, like trying to sell attachments to the customer or (in this case), finding out what the next student wants. Behaving inefficiently and adding traffic to the back on a busy launch day is simple incompetence.
azurelogic 14y ago
Regardless of the questions about the story, as a former Apple retail employee, I can tell you that this isn't an unrealistic story. I had a few interactions with people who were deaf that worked much like this. It was always a memorable and uplifting experience to find ways to use our demo units for more productive purposes.
- mistercow 14y ago
  As an also former Apple retail employee, I disagree with you that this isn't an unrealistic story. There are a lot of red flags here, many of which are not Apple Store specific, and some of which are. The fact that a Mac sales guy was walking back and forth from stockroom to floor, fetching each MacBook for 15 students individually, and no manager took him aside to ask what the hell he thought he was doing, did he not notice that [unidentified product X] had just launched and that the store was full of waiting customers... does not ring true.
  - nsp 14y ago
    I worked at the store the OP worked at, and his story seems accurate. The 5th avenue store does more $/sq foot than anywhere else in the US, and grosses more than any other retail store in New York. In early 2012 the 5th avenue store got 'runners', who would bring the computers out to you, but it was often faster to run back and get it yourself. I sold ~30-50k of macs a night and would frequently be seen running back and forth to the floor with my arms full of laptops - this didn't attract negative manager attention - I was making sales. His story checks out - I'm happy to answer any other questions re: 5th ave
    - ebbv 14y ago
      You're confused. OP did not work in the 5th avenue store. He said his store was in a mall with a food court.
- rdl 14y ago
  There's also the "use Google Translate to talk (in writing) to someone in a foreign language, without a language in common" that I've done several times.
rtrunck 14y ago
Classic Hacker News any more - top comment is a cynic. Even if this isn't true, what would the point be for lying? And what really is the harm done?
- newbie12 14y ago
  Not a cynic, a skeptic. And that's pud, who's a pretty major hacker.
  - rdl 14y ago
    Also pretty major cynic, I mean he ran "fuckedcompany" which was essentially schadenfreude central.
  - shimshimshabim 14y ago
    I, for one, pretty majorly don't give a shit.
  - zecho 14y ago
    Oh so that explains why it's the top comment on an otherwise benign post. He's a pretty major hacker, whatever that means, so people just upvote him because of that?
    - kajecounterhack 14y ago
      People upvote him because they trust him. He's got a track record of being reasonable.
- hnriot 14y ago
  Attention seeking obviously. That's the point why the op made it up. There's no harm done, except wasting a bunch of people's time.
  - koide 14y ago
    Why the story being untrue makes it a waste of time for everybody?
ebbv 14y ago
I had the exact same reaction. This story has all the telltale signs of typical internet fiction trying to pass as a real story. Lack of details (no names of the school, teacher, etc., no date) combined with an implausible "this doesn't happen to anyone" story line is the biggest giveaway. It's unfortunate that people are so eager to believe a happy story that they will suppress their bullshit detectors. The truth is important even when the lie is pleasant. Glad to see this comment is at the top, disappointed to see the story voted so highly in the first place, though.
- dmlorenzetti 14y ago
  Admittedly in a few regards the story sounds not-quite-right. However I think if it was "typical internet fiction" then it wouldn't have ended with the revelation that the kids weren't deaf after all. Why deflate the punchline like that? If pure glurge fiction, it would have ended with the narrator, or more likely the Apple store manager, receiving a note from the school, relating how the deaf kids had been treated poorly at every other store. Better yet, one of the deaf kids would have had a powerful father who went to the Apple store and lavished rewards on all the employees there. Father might even work for Microsoft. Let your imagination run wild.
  - ebbv 14y ago
    Without that bit the story would've been "Hey some deaf kids visited my store." It still would have been unusual but that last crazy detail is what makes it a remarkable story, and it's the part that makes the narrator a hero. It's also the part that goes from pushing the boundaries of believability and bursts full on into being obvious fiction.
    - sophacles 14y ago
      I see nothing in this story that is implausible. Odd and unusual things happen all the time. In fact, the unusualness is what makes the story. I really don't get why people want to jump all over people's odd experiences an declare them "totally fake bra, you wouldn't dare be nice as a service employee", or maybe "in your job where you are dealing with hundreds of strangers a week, not one of them (or some of them) could have been an unusual case". It's like saying: I have a raid 6 at home. It's never lost data, and not one of the hard drives ever failed, Backblaze must be lying about the part where they have hard drives fail. If you think teachers having kids role play the lives of other people is so crazy as to not have happened, I'm not sure what to tell you. I know that when I was a kid, one of the summer camps I went to did similar things. One year it was just live your day in a wheelchair. Another year it was role-play the lives of a very poor family, and have figure out how to handle a broken arm in one of the kids and still pay rent, eat, etc. These included going out into the world, not just staying in the camp. I've heard other people who in school had to wear "pregnant suits" or carry "babies", or go around with blindfolds, and so on, to help them understand the situation other people may be in. Perhaps it's the part where a mall worker runs into someone in another part of the mall later that day. I'm not sure how this even comes close to improbable. I've run into clerks who helped me in the food court before. Overall, I'd rate this story as Extremely plausible. No single element of it is at all sketchy. Some of the coincidences are less likely to happen, but again, not even deserving of a rating rare, merely unlikely. If the story teller had a 100 stories like this I would be more suspicious, but a single event that is unlikely is pretty believable.
DannyBee 14y ago
You think someone would really do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YWdD206eSv0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Y...
bobbles 14y ago
And just who were these mysterious evil people that apparently hate deaf kids.. ed: woop my bad, you covered that
tamersalama 14y ago
Hugs and tears?
unimpressive 14y ago
Obvious shitthatdidnthappen.txt And what's more, it's taking up the top spot on HN, which could be used for a real story that might have better social justice advice than "don't be a dick".
- derekerdmann 14y ago
  Or just "Bitcoin is at a new high"
snowwrestler 14y ago
> The kids knew sign language? No, but neither did the author so he couldn't tell they were making signs up. > The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? No, it just says they browsed other stores. > And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? Apple lines are product-specific. If there is a line to buy the new iPhone, you can still go in and buy other products. That is why they manage those lines the way they do. > The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? Sure, why not? Private schools can do things however they want. > The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? How hard is it to act deaf? > A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? Sure, if the point is to give them a taste of what social interactions feel like to disabled people. > No bulk discount or pre-arranged deal? Speaking of unbelievable...this is Apple, right? Not known for their eagerness to cut a deal. > All other employees in the mall were mean to deaf kids? Not mean, but maybe not too psyched to have to deal with them. > Author doesn't remember which Apple product was debuting? Or maybe they don't want to reveal the exact timing of the story, which naming the product release would do to the day. > I hate to be "that guy" -- but this story is most likely fiction. We just had a story on here the other day about a gay couple who found their son in the subway. Life is strange sometimes. I don't understand why someone would lie about this. For HN karma?
- Kylekramer 14y ago
  I am guessing the author pulled a Broder/Tesla situation on this story. Gist may be true, but the details were fuzzed for a better story/self aggrandizement. I particularly don't buy the whole "You were the only nice person to these poor 'deaf' children all day" angle. I have worked fairly often with people in the deaf and blind communities and if anything they complain that people treat them too kindly in general and not as a normal person. As for a reason why the author would lie, a quick persual of his site makes it pretty clear he is trying to kickstart his career in the Apple blogger niche. Story like this may be a good way to get it started.
- jd007 14y ago
  > No, but neither did the author so he couldn't tell they were making signs up. I'm sure a bunch of high school students' pretend sign language would be quite easy to spot for a decently intelligent adult, especially if you have to interact with them one by one. > No, it just says they browsed other stores. Explains a bit about why other stores were not as nice to them then, if they didn't actually buy anything... > How hard is it to act deaf? I'd say pretty damn hard if you were in high school, in a group, on a field trip. > Speaking of unbelievable...this is Apple, right? Not known for their eagerness to cut a deal. Apple does give bulk discounts, and if it's for a school I'm sure they should be in a program like that instead of paying retail. > I don't understand why someone would lie about this. People just do, for various reasons. Some you may understand, some you may not, but that doesn't change the fact that people do lie (especially for HN karma :P)
hnriot 14y ago
It's so obviously fake, anyone that has one or has ever been on a school field trip would know that it would be impossible to get then to keep quiet. They'd giggle and one would say something within about 15 seconds. And the guy doesn't remember what product had just launched :) I feel really sorry for the guy, trying to get attention like this. Pretty desperate.
vicks711 14y ago
I agree with you. This story has all the signs of a fake story. The author is an attention seeking moron. By the way what is a salesman doing on hackernews?
protomyth 14y ago
> The kids knew sign language? all it really takes is one kid in the group knowing sign language. It is actually not that uncommon since it counts as a second language and there has been a bit of a craze to teach babies to sign. It also clusters around deaf children since their friends tend to pick up sign[1]. 1) remember children, signing to your friend at church still counts as talking during the mass

by pud 14y ago

69_years_and 14y ago

I am sorry to have agree with you, but yes the contradictions did start piling up. As they say, photos, please, or it didn't happen.

darkchasma 14y ago
A picture of a bunch of kids and a teacher would prove what exactly?
- 69_years_and 14y ago
  Sorry dark, that bit... was a joke. It was playing on a common internet saying that people say to their friends (and others) when they say something, you know, like, I meet the Prezz, surly you have run into it before. Jezz I hate having to explain my jokes. I'll need to get that looked at.
  - darkchasma 14y ago
    As was my comment, so we're even. ;)
    - 69_years_and 14y ago
      Touché my friend ;)

concerto 14y ago

My first thought too. What kind of budget did the kids have on this day out? How do I get my kids into that school?

Cthulhu_ 14y ago
> How do I get my kids into that school? Paying $30K - $50K a year in tuition fees should do it.

webwielder 14y ago

And why were there tears at the end? Was everyone so moved at the theoretical plight of real deaf kids that they broke down? Also, I imagine real deaf people don't have a habit of walking up to salespeople and assuming they know sign language.

jdmichal 14y ago
And even if they did, I think they would get the hint pretty quick that the other side doesn't understand it...

webwielder 14y ago

Come to think of it, this story isn't about Apple or the Apple Store at all. A better title would be "The Time I Wasn't Mean to Fake Deaf Kids and Felt Great About It".

charlieok 14y ago
The Apple Store part was to get internet points.

mistercow 14y ago

Also, Mac Specialists at the Apple store don't go in the back to fetch inventory. They call it back.

boldfield 14y ago
It hasn't always been that way actually. I worked apple retail while in college for 2 years, and we only had 'runners' to bring inventory up from the back the last 6 months I was there... and the white macbooks were released at the time the "Specialists" (salespeople) were responsible for doing the running themselves.
nsp 14y ago
They did at his store - it's substantially faster than waiting
- mistercow 14y ago
  It is not faster than waiting, because there's no waiting. You do other things while it's being brought out, like trying to sell attachments to the customer or (in this case), finding out what the next student wants. Behaving inefficiently and adding traffic to the back on a busy launch day is simple incompetence.

azurelogic 14y ago

Regardless of the questions about the story, as a former Apple retail employee, I can tell you that this isn't an unrealistic story. I had a few interactions with people who were deaf that worked much like this. It was always a memorable and uplifting experience to find ways to use our demo units for more productive purposes.

mistercow 14y ago
As an also former Apple retail employee, I disagree with you that this isn't an unrealistic story. There are a lot of red flags here, many of which are not Apple Store specific, and some of which are. The fact that a Mac sales guy was walking back and forth from stockroom to floor, fetching each MacBook for 15 students individually, and no manager took him aside to ask what the hell he thought he was doing, did he not notice that [unidentified product X] had just launched and that the store was full of waiting customers... does not ring true.
- nsp 14y ago
  I worked at the store the OP worked at, and his story seems accurate. The 5th avenue store does more $/sq foot than anywhere else in the US, and grosses more than any other retail store in New York. In early 2012 the 5th avenue store got 'runners', who would bring the computers out to you, but it was often faster to run back and get it yourself. I sold ~30-50k of macs a night and would frequently be seen running back and forth to the floor with my arms full of laptops - this didn't attract negative manager attention - I was making sales. His story checks out - I'm happy to answer any other questions re: 5th ave
  - ebbv 14y ago
    You're confused. OP did not work in the 5th avenue store. He said his store was in a mall with a food court.
rdl 14y ago
There's also the "use Google Translate to talk (in writing) to someone in a foreign language, without a language in common" that I've done several times.

rtrunck 14y ago

Classic Hacker News any more - top comment is a cynic. Even if this isn't true, what would the point be for lying? And what really is the harm done?

newbie12 14y ago
Not a cynic, a skeptic. And that's pud, who's a pretty major hacker.
- rdl 14y ago
  Also pretty major cynic, I mean he ran "fuckedcompany" which was essentially schadenfreude central.
- shimshimshabim 14y ago
  I, for one, pretty majorly don't give a shit.
- zecho 14y ago
  Oh so that explains why it's the top comment on an otherwise benign post. He's a pretty major hacker, whatever that means, so people just upvote him because of that?
  - kajecounterhack 14y ago
    People upvote him because they trust him. He's got a track record of being reasonable.
hnriot 14y ago
Attention seeking obviously. That's the point why the op made it up. There's no harm done, except wasting a bunch of people's time.
- koide 14y ago
  Why the story being untrue makes it a waste of time for everybody?

ebbv 14y ago

I had the exact same reaction. This story has all the telltale signs of typical internet fiction trying to pass as a real story. Lack of details (no names of the school, teacher, etc., no date) combined with an implausible "this doesn't happen to anyone" story line is the biggest giveaway. It's unfortunate that people are so eager to believe a happy story that they will suppress their bullshit detectors. The truth is important even when the lie is pleasant. Glad to see this comment is at the top, disappointed to see the story voted so highly in the first place, though.

dmlorenzetti 14y ago
Admittedly in a few regards the story sounds not-quite-right. However I think if it was "typical internet fiction" then it wouldn't have ended with the revelation that the kids weren't deaf after all. Why deflate the punchline like that? If pure glurge fiction, it would have ended with the narrator, or more likely the Apple store manager, receiving a note from the school, relating how the deaf kids had been treated poorly at every other store. Better yet, one of the deaf kids would have had a powerful father who went to the Apple store and lavished rewards on all the employees there. Father might even work for Microsoft. Let your imagination run wild.
- ebbv 14y ago
  Without that bit the story would've been "Hey some deaf kids visited my store." It still would have been unusual but that last crazy detail is what makes it a remarkable story, and it's the part that makes the narrator a hero. It's also the part that goes from pushing the boundaries of believability and bursts full on into being obvious fiction.
  - sophacles 14y ago
    I see nothing in this story that is implausible. Odd and unusual things happen all the time. In fact, the unusualness is what makes the story. I really don't get why people want to jump all over people's odd experiences an declare them "totally fake bra, you wouldn't dare be nice as a service employee", or maybe "in your job where you are dealing with hundreds of strangers a week, not one of them (or some of them) could have been an unusual case". It's like saying: I have a raid 6 at home. It's never lost data, and not one of the hard drives ever failed, Backblaze must be lying about the part where they have hard drives fail. If you think teachers having kids role play the lives of other people is so crazy as to not have happened, I'm not sure what to tell you. I know that when I was a kid, one of the summer camps I went to did similar things. One year it was just live your day in a wheelchair. Another year it was role-play the lives of a very poor family, and have figure out how to handle a broken arm in one of the kids and still pay rent, eat, etc. These included going out into the world, not just staying in the camp. I've heard other people who in school had to wear "pregnant suits" or carry "babies", or go around with blindfolds, and so on, to help them understand the situation other people may be in. Perhaps it's the part where a mall worker runs into someone in another part of the mall later that day. I'm not sure how this even comes close to improbable. I've run into clerks who helped me in the food court before. Overall, I'd rate this story as Extremely plausible. No single element of it is at all sketchy. Some of the coincidences are less likely to happen, but again, not even deserving of a rating rare, merely unlikely. If the story teller had a 100 stories like this I would be more suspicious, but a single event that is unlikely is pretty believable.

DannyBee 14y ago

You think someone would really do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YWdD206eSv0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Y...

bobbles 14y ago

And just who were these mysterious evil people that apparently hate deaf kids.. ed: woop my bad, you covered that

tamersalama 14y ago

Hugs and tears?

unimpressive 14y ago

Obvious shitthatdidnthappen.txt And what's more, it's taking up the top spot on HN, which could be used for a real story that might have better social justice advice than "don't be a dick".

derekerdmann 14y ago
Or just "Bitcoin is at a new high"

snowwrestler 14y ago

> The kids knew sign language? No, but neither did the author so he couldn't tell they were making signs up. > The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? No, it just says they browsed other stores. > And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? Apple lines are product-specific. If there is a line to buy the new iPhone, you can still go in and buy other products. That is why they manage those lines the way they do. > The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? Sure, why not? Private schools can do things however they want. > The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? How hard is it to act deaf? > A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? Sure, if the point is to give them a taste of what social interactions feel like to disabled people. > No bulk discount or pre-arranged deal? Speaking of unbelievable...this is Apple, right? Not known for their eagerness to cut a deal. > All other employees in the mall were mean to deaf kids? Not mean, but maybe not too psyched to have to deal with them. > Author doesn't remember which Apple product was debuting? Or maybe they don't want to reveal the exact timing of the story, which naming the product release would do to the day. > I hate to be "that guy" -- but this story is most likely fiction. We just had a story on here the other day about a gay couple who found their son in the subway. Life is strange sometimes. I don't understand why someone would lie about this. For HN karma?

Kylekramer 14y ago
I am guessing the author pulled a Broder/Tesla situation on this story. Gist may be true, but the details were fuzzed for a better story/self aggrandizement. I particularly don't buy the whole "You were the only nice person to these poor 'deaf' children all day" angle. I have worked fairly often with people in the deaf and blind communities and if anything they complain that people treat them too kindly in general and not as a normal person. As for a reason why the author would lie, a quick persual of his site makes it pretty clear he is trying to kickstart his career in the Apple blogger niche. Story like this may be a good way to get it started.
jd007 14y ago
> No, but neither did the author so he couldn't tell they were making signs up. I'm sure a bunch of high school students' pretend sign language would be quite easy to spot for a decently intelligent adult, especially if you have to interact with them one by one. > No, it just says they browsed other stores. Explains a bit about why other stores were not as nice to them then, if they didn't actually buy anything... > How hard is it to act deaf? I'd say pretty damn hard if you were in high school, in a group, on a field trip. > Speaking of unbelievable...this is Apple, right? Not known for their eagerness to cut a deal. Apple does give bulk discounts, and if it's for a school I'm sure they should be in a program like that instead of paying retail. > I don't understand why someone would lie about this. People just do, for various reasons. Some you may understand, some you may not, but that doesn't change the fact that people do lie (especially for HN karma :P)

hnriot 14y ago

It's so obviously fake, anyone that has one or has ever been on a school field trip would know that it would be impossible to get then to keep quiet. They'd giggle and one would say something within about 15 seconds. And the guy doesn't remember what product had just launched :) I feel really sorry for the guy, trying to get attention like this. Pretty desperate.

vicks711 14y ago

I agree with you. This story has all the signs of a fake story. The author is an attention seeking moron. By the way what is a salesman doing on hackernews?

protomyth 14y ago

> The kids knew sign language? all it really takes is one kid in the group knowing sign language. It is actually not that uncommon since it counts as a second language and there has been a bit of a craze to teach babies to sign. It also clusters around deaf children since their friends tend to pick up sign[1]. 1) remember children, signing to your friend at church still counts as talking during the mass