A Bookstore Moment

Yes, truth is stranger than fiction. Things happen that no one would be bold enough to invent, to wit: I was browsing through a shelf of my favorite author’s writings when a bookstore employee asked me if I could help another shopper. It’s already getting weird, right?
“I’ll try,” I answered. “What’s the problem?”
“I’m looking for a Saint James Bible,” the customer said.
“Could you possibly mean King James?”
The man looked puzzled. “Who’s King James?” he asked.
“He was King of England in the 1600s. He sponsored the translation of the Bible into English. So we refer to that translation by his name.”
The clerk weighed in. “Oh, King James. He signed the Magna Carta.”
Looking around for the hidden camera, I said, “No, I think that king’s name was John.”
“Are you sure?” the clerk asked.
What does this have to do with the customer finding a Bible? “I’m pretty sure,” I replied. “John was a Plantagenet. They ruled centuries before the Stewart kings.”
The man had by now found the Bible he wanted to buy without anyone’s assistance, but he seemed interested in the conversation.
“Oh, I know who you mean,” the clerk said, slapping her forehead. “King James, the dude we fought against in the American Revolution.”
Why didn’t I walk away? “Wasn’t that George the Third?”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” she said. “What year did all that happen?”
I started to create a time line. “The Magna Carta was signed in 1215. Elizabeth the First was the last Tudor and she died in 1603--”
“Would you excuse me? My beeper is going off.” With that, the clerk disappeared.
“Did you find what you wanted?” I asked the man. Somehow I felt responsible for him.
“Sure did,” he said with a big smile. “Have a nice day.”
Another satisfied customer