Sweet potato, anyone?

I work in a wine store in Divisoria and I must say, I've had some pretty weird requests from people who walk in and fail to recognize the merchandise surrounding them. They've asked for chinese medicine, vinegar, alcohol (the hospital and first-aid kind), and maraschino cherries. But the one my friend Ynee fielded today takes the cake.

A guy walks in and asks for kamote. Translated for the non-Filipino, a kamote is a sweet potato. Now I ask you, what self-respecting customer walks into a store filled with wine, softdrinks and bottled water expecting to find root crops just lying about, waiting to be sold? When Ynee, who could barely answer him for laughing, said we didn't have any, the guy looked puzzled and claimed that his boss (!!!) had phoned in the order. Good grief.

Ynee, manfully stifling laughter, helpfully suggested that perhaps what the guy's boss wanted was Don Quixote (a Spanish red wine that may, to the untrained ear, sound vaguely like kamote). The guy, however, insisted that he was sent to buy kamote and not wine. After being assured that nowhere, no way, no how, did we stock root crops amongst the wines and spirits, the guy left, never to return.

I wonder. Do wine stores in First World countries have these odd moments too?