You know babies, I was thinking about the store yesterday. I still haven't gone back. Maybe this week. I'm not sure I'm ready to see that big, dark, empty space that once was a vibrant, fabulous shop. Seeing it will go a long way in helping me move on. When I'm ready, I will. Maybe this week.
Besides, I have to take a plateful of treasures to the staff at my fave Starbucks. Did I tell you they brought me flowers and a boston cream pie on our last day? Yes, I cried. Buckets of tears. I almost always feel like I'm on the sidelines, not quite part of the action, so it surprises me when people do nice things. The staff there always made my days a little brighter. It's nice to know they felt the same.
There are scenes flashing through my head, memories of four pretty good years, and customers who simply reiterated what I already knew.
Jim Morrison was right babies. People ARE strange.
Remember the old saying that the "customer was always right"? Well, here's a newsflash for ya, that is so not true. Yes, there have been some really great ones--like the fireman who brought us Timbits on a regular basis. All because he overheard a conversation about staying out of the candy drawer and bikinis. He looked at me, grinned and said "eat the candy". Then he left and came back with the verboten donut holes. From that day onward, he brought us the treats every time he was in the mall. There are the mums who brought their babies in every week, it was wonderful to watch them grow, to see the smiles because they remember the Kitchen Lady. The children's book was born from the interaction with them. A simple story to calm fussy ones has become something that must be written. If for no other reason than to get it out of my head.
Ah, but it's always the nasty ones, the bullies, that stay with you. Those that argued over a return of a product that didn't come from our store. The elderly woman who let loose a string of profanities when told she couldn't have possibly talked to our head office in Toronto, because, well, there is no head office in Toronto. We weren't part of a chain. It made me wonder if she kissed her great grandchildren with that mouth. So I asked her that. It was the one question that shut her up right quick. The local television reporter who verbally abused, then threatened me because he was told that he couldn't return a mirror that had been purchased SIX months before. He was simply "too busy" to get to it before now. And after all, the picture on the box didn't show it had a cord. Then in the next breath, tells me it wasn't used, that the staff had to repackage it because it was the last one. Well sir, I replied, if that were the case, then you'd have seen the cord dangling from the mirror, since it was on display. And that's when he threatened me. I just let him rant, ignoring him while serving the next customer. He finally stormed out, drawing attention to himself, and none of it good. You know because that's what you want to do when you're a small-time reporter for a small town tv station.
Then there was the woman (old of course--in this town being old gives you the right to be nasty) who actually e-mailed to mall administration with a complaint about me. Why? Because she'd tried to return a timer that no longer worked. She'd had it for just over a year. Not a problem, I'm good with this particular supplier, replacing it, provided it really is faulty, is not an issue. My fatal mistake? Asking her if she'd checked or replaced the battery in it. Mrs. Evans was her name. She went ballistic, screaming so hard her face was red and I thought (ok, hoped) she might have a heart attack right there. The e-mail she sent was horrible and ended with her informing "everyone" that my staff were absolutely "terrified" of me. Fortunately, that statement, along with the somewhat, um, colorful, description of yours truly saw nothing but said e-mail being dismissed and tossed in the trash. It shook me though. I try so hard to be nice to everyone, personal attacks for no reason cut me to the bone.
Yet, still I'm drawn to retail. I must've been a masochist in a previous life.
Just when you thought you'd seen everything, encountered every strange person.....SURPRISE! Another would show up. Some of them made us cry, some of them had us scratching our heads, wondering wtf that was all about and some had us laughing until we cried.
But that's a story for another day.
I bet you're all a-quiver with anticipation.
HRG
No comments:
Post a Comment