A few weeks ago a co-worker sent me this message:

order 30939 - do you realize who she is?

I didn't recognize the name. But the email address associated with the order was quite a jolt. It was a straightforward Gmail address with a household name.

Imagine you see in the order list a name you don't recognize and this email address: barack.obama@gmail.com. That was the type of email address staring me in the face. And a quick Google search indicated that the name of the woman who placed the order was married to name in the Gmail address. 

It would probably be a big boon to my business, and to Gabrieli as well, if I were to reveal his name, but I feel obligated to respect his privacy. Suffice it to say, he's arguably one of the most successful businessmen on earth.

The thing is, he placed the order right around Rosh Hashana and needed to receive it by the end of Sukkot. That's about three weeks. And since we're closed on Fridays and holidays (i.e. the eve of Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashana, the eve of Yom Kippur, Yom Kippur, the eve of Sukkot and all of Sukkot) there were only a handful of business days at our disposal to make it happen. 

I told my colleague there's no way we could get it to him by his target date.

"Oh, come on," he replied. "You've gotta find a way. For ______ you've gotta find a way."

But when I went to Gabrieli and said we had a VIP customer who ordered three tallits, and we need them right away, they said that's a no-can-do, they have a big order backlog because of the holiday season, and they shut down for all of Sukkot as well.

So I had no alternative other than to politely explain to ________ that because of the time of year, there was just no way we could meet his target date.

He took it in stride, and said he'd manage, and just wait until they come.

I realize this blog post is not a fun read as long as I conceal the person's identity; so be it. But I suppose I could at least show you what he ordered: