Size, and other matters.

Tales from the cutting counter:  Yesterday was busy, and I was multi-tasking most of the day.  I was answering questions, giving directions, and cutting fabric all at once, flat out busy.  A petite woman comes up to me and asks, "There's a pattern on the wall and it only comes in tall, eight-one-eight.  Do you have it in any other size?"  She gives me the pattern number.  Now, keep in mind that we have thousands of patterns, grouped by manufacturer and then filed by pattern number.  There's no way I can know this off the top of my head.  What I *do* know, though, is that there are no tall patterns in any of the pattern lines we carry. And the "eight-one-eight" has me flummoxed. I'm more than a little confused.  "What line is the pattern?"  I ask.  The woman doesn't know, so she goes back to the pattern wall and grabs the pattern in question.  I look at the cover.  "Ma'am," says me, pointing at the printing in the corner of the pattern cover,  "that doesn't say 'tall,'  it says 'taille,' which means "size" in French.  This pattern has a size range from 8-18."