In a small computer store…
Me: “Hi. I need a 25 pin RS-232 cable.”
Sales Clerk 1: “What do you need it for?”
Me: “I need to plug a VT100 into a modem. I have both the VT100 and the modem, I just need at 25 pin male/female cable with RS-232 connectors.”
Sales Clerk 1: “Let me get my manager.”
Huh?
Sales Clerk 1: in background: “I have a guy here who wants to plug his VCR into a modem.”
The sales clerk returned with another.
Sales Clerk 2: “Hello, sir. You can’t attach a VCR to a modem.”
Me: “That is not what I am trying to do. I need a 25-pin RS-232 cable — that’s all. Do you have cables for plugging into modems?”
Sales Clerk 2: “What do you want to plug into the modem?”
Me: “A VT100. It is a terminal. You plug it into a computer over a serial line, frequently a modem. I just need a 25-pin cable to go from the unit to the modem.”
Sales Clerk 2: (to Sales Clerk 1) “He doesn’t have a VCR. He wants to plug a VTR into his modem, so it is all right.”
Sales Clerk 1 handed me a cable.
Me: “This is a 9-pin cable. I need a 25 pin cable.”
Sales Clerk 2: “Most PC’s have 9 pins on their serial cards.”
Me: “I am not attaching a PC. I am attaching a VT100. There are 25 pins on it — it needs to plug into a 25 pin connector.”
Sales Clerk 2: “Then use the small end to plug into your modem.”
Me: “There are 25 pins on the modem as well. Do you have any 25 pin cables? All I need is a cable with 25 pins at each end.”
Sales Clerk 2: “This is a 25 pin cable.”
