I loved the pie article and can't believe that another store manager refuses to sell a pie! I wonder if there are others, and if there is some alternate-reality pie-shop-manager manual they are reading? Let's hope it's not a trend!
We had a very similar, very frustrating, and completely insane experience at a small-town pie shop in Maine. Each side thought the other was crazy, and there was absolutely no way to get the manager to budge and agree to sell us the entire pie, or even agree to our offer to pay the higher per-slice price.
With hindsight, we realize that what we should have done, or what you should do if ever faced with this dilemma, is for all in our group to pretend they didn't know one another, then to line up and individually order and buy a slice. It was an out-of-pie, out-of-body experience!
It would be interesting to know if other of your readers have also experienced this, and where. I hope you will be able to get to the bottom of this as I might be wrong, but believe that pie and access to pie is one of our constitutional rights, and must be defended!
I go to Maine every summer, and our family gathers there from California, Vermont, Florida, and South Carolina. This summer there were 16 of us, and after our fun annual lobster dinner, we did go to the Nazi pie shop, but we opted for ice cream!
Pining for pie,