Ship Holding Client’s Countertops Seized by Pirates, Employee Doesn’t Know How to Tell Them

Business delays can happen in almost every line of work. Sometimes, being short-staffed can slow down operations significantly, as you thought you'd have had an extra set of hands to assist you.

Or let's say you run a delivery company and you're not able to make that overnight shipment time because there was a massive pile-up on the highway leaving one of your trucks stuck.

Or maybe you're filming a movie and the star of your flick falls ill or has a disagreement with the director over the movie's final vision and refuses to leave their trailer as a result. Sometimes, creatives just lose the spark for a project.

And then there are folks who are waiting for materials to complete a home renovation project and have their plans dashed by pirates, of all people.

That's exactly what happened to this X (formerly Twitter) user's client.

Saddy Mayonnaise (@saddymayo) uploaded a viral post explaining the conundrum they're in.

"I have to tell a client that the ship carrying her countertops is being held up by pirates and it is too early for this right now," they said.

Their unique workplace quandary resonated with folks on the popular social media application and prompted a litany of different jokes.

One quipped: "Maybe to ease her distress remind her that she got them on sail."

While another replied: "You: pirates have your countertops, I'm so sorry to tell you this but they seized the cargo ship and— Client: arrrg, I seaaaaa."

Another user on the application remarked that this could actually work in the client's favor. By the time they actually receive the materials they need in order to complete their kitchen renovation, they're going to have an amazing story to go along with it.

"That's so sexy. If they ever arrive, she can tell that story every time someone compliments her kitchen renovation."

Someone else posed a scenario that painted pirates in an interesting light. While it's no surprise that there are still pirates who board ships and try to rob them of their goods, imagining them stealing kitchen fixtures is a pretty unique scenario.

"I hope the pirates really like their new kitchen," another X user wrote, mentally prompting a funny image of pirates sitting inside a staged kitchen area, admiring the workmanship around them.

Someone else called the scenario a grown-up version of a common school gripe: "This is the most adult ‘the dog ate my homework’ I have ever seen. I hope your client is in good spirits."

Saddy Mayonnaise did give an update on the situation, however, stating that they didn't fully update the customer on the pirate situation as they were seeing if there was still a way to fulfill their deadline.

"We haven’t notified the client yet, we’re looking to see if there are other options available before we tell her our contract deadline date depends on the generosity of pirates. I’ll let you all know how it goes, though!"

There was one commenter who remarked that Saddy's client must've been "entitled" as are many other consumers, to receive their countertops imported. However, Saddy explained why this is the case.

Whereas another user on the application said that they wanted to jump at the opportunity to inform the client what happened as a means of testing just how redoubtable their customer service skills are.

"Let me do it!!! This would be the ultimate test of my years of customer service experience," they said.

So what ended up happening to Saddy's client's shipment? Her company was ultimately able to find the countertop material somewhere else.

Which means that the customer may never know their original countertop shipment was almost commandeered by pirates. Which seems like robbing them of a very cool story they could've had.