Customer asked me to 'just glue it' and watched me cringe for a full minute

This lady in my shop last Tuesday pointed at her 30 year old Bible with a detached spine and said 'can't you just use school glue?' and after I explained the whole acid free, pH neutral thing she told me her nephew could do it cheaper with a hot glue gun, so has anyone else had to fake a smile while explaining why that idea makes me want to cry?

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1 Comment

perez.christopher16d ago

The hot glue gun part alone made my eye twitch, and I wasn't even in your shop. I had a guy bring in a 1940s atlas last year and ask if I could just slap some duct tape on the hinge. I told him duct tape leaves a sticky mess that eats through paper over time, and he said "well it's just paper" while holding a piece of history worth more than his truck. I get that people don't know about archival materials, but the moment you say "30 year old Bible" and they still suggest hot glue, that's not ignorance, that's a choice. You handled it way better than me, because I would have handed her the glue stick and said good luck.