Conversation at the wholesaler store

"I'd like 2 meters of this cloth" I say to one of the guys who works in the store.
He takes the cloth and measures it. "There are about 2.5 meters here" he says.
I say, "That's okay, I only need 2 meters."
He says, "well if you want this cloth you have to buy the rest of the cloth"
I say, "Why?" (knowing the answer)
He says, "Because no one is going to buy half a meter if you buy 2 meters"
And I say, "You think anyone wants 2.5 meters for anything? You can't make a Senegalese outfit out of 2.5 meters anyway."
"No matter," he says. "No one is going to buy 1/2 a meter."
So I say, "Well why should I have to pay for a 1/2 meter of cloth that I don't need or want?"
He shrugs his shoulders. Obviously that is not the point, nor his problem.
I continue to try and convince him otherwise though. I try the business angle. I say, "You're personally not taking a loss on this"

"Oh yes I am" he answers. He looks away, bored of our conversation.

I say, "But now you would be losing a customer and even more money but not having my business of buying the 2 meters."
He looks back at me. "Do you want the cloth or not?"
Now we're at the heart of the matter.

I say, "Yes. I do. I want 2 meters of it"
"You have to buy 2.5 meters"
hmmmm, we're back where we started....

"But why should I be punished for 1/2 meter someone else bought long before me, which has led us to this predicament in the first place?"

Blank face. He starts to walk away to see if there are other people in the store who are better customers than me.

I put the cloth down and figure it's not going to pan out, because now I've gotten on my high horse and feel quite principle-minded about the whole affair.

When I get home I tell Brook about the conversation. He has no sympathy. He says, "You know how things work here. You know that the person at the end of the bolt always has to buy the scraps!"

"I know, I know," I said. "I was just feeling argumentative today."