Look with your Eyes, not with your Hands

Sometimes I wish I was crazy. Then the world around me wouldn't irk me as much.

Have you ever witnessed somebody doing something so dumb you wondered what goes on in their right minds?

There was a gentleman in the store today who became fascinated by a necklace we sell. He stood there beside his daughter, picked it up, examined it, examined it closer, started pulling on it, pulled harder, broke off the end of it, put the broken piece down, put back the necklace, looked at his daughter, continued shopping a bit and then walked out.

All the while, an employee had her eyes glued on him. He didn't pay any attention to her. Breaking property that wasn't his did not phase him one bit.

These sort of situations have this way to leave you completely speechless. One thing is for sure though. There is no reason for a grown man with a teenage daughter to pick up a necklace and purposely break it right in front of her. He sure knows how to set an example!

It's a wonder these people are able to make it through life for as long as they do and procreate nonetheless. There are just some things we will never understand.

What ever happened to the good ol' saying of "if you break it, you buy it"?

I Need a Vacation

Or start a blog.

There comes a time after many months without any considerable breaks when it feels like all customers walk in to my store simply to annoy me. It's not them, I just need a vacation.

I love people and I love talking to strangers. Which is probably the reason why I am so good at my job. I usually have this "way" to make them feel right at home. These days, I haven't been as warm and friendly. 

I have become your everyday salesperson. The robot greeting you at the door, repeating the same promotions over and over again, in the same monotone voice, in the same word order and sometimes twice to the same person. Oups!

With summer behind us, retailers are starting to dread the abominable Christmas season and customers are sad to see the warm weather go and the rise of the price of winter clothes. We're all cranky.

I have to admit, I make myself sound a lot worse than I actually am. I eventually talk myself out of that mood by forcing myself to smile, which is a tip I have shared with my employees to better their spirits.

No matter how hard I try to have that welcoming approach for every customer that steps in, more often then not, the usual response to my Scout Girl "Hello!!" is a shrug, a grimace and if I'm lucky, I've scared them out of the store.

Let's get things straight here. I'm 5"2, I dress conservatively and I have glasses. I'm the least intimidating being you will cross at the mall and I'm a real nice girl too.

Then you have the ones that walk in talking on their cell phones and the ones that simply ignore me. I don't care if you don't speak any English, the word "hello" is universal. Use it. Smile. I'll get it.

If not, I will make sure to get really close to you and ask you how you're doing in the hopes that you realize  that the polite thing to do is to simply reciprocate the greeting. It is not that hard.

My favourite ones are the customers that walk-in announcing that they are simply browsing. Well, I'm sorry if I simply wanted to say "hello". I'm not going to strap you down in my change room with a scarf or trap you under a pile of clothes until you buy something. I'm just letting you know that I'll be around if you need anything. 

Sometimes, the simple act of approaching the customer has them b-line right out the door. And sometimes, they come in asking for directions, and then they get mad at me if I don't know. Should I just make up directions until they realize they are going around in circles?

No, because THAT would be cruel.