Years ago, before my Navy days, I worked at Wal-mart in the infants and girls departments. I enjoyed the job, it just didn't pay enough. Working for a store like that leads to some interesting encounters with all types of the general population.
One evening I was called up to the customer service desk. An older woman was standing there with her granddaughter. The little girl looked to be about 4 or 5 years old. Laying on the service desk was a jacket.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" I politely asked.
"I bought this jacket for my granddaughter," she informed me.
"Ok," I stalled, not quite sure what point she was trying to make.
"It was labeled a girl's jacket, and it was in the girl's department, but just look at it!" she exclaimed.
It was a pink denim jacket, suitable for a little girl. I still didn't see what the problem was. Thinking it might be defective in some way, I looked it over carefully. There were no stains, no torn spots, no loose seams. All the buttons and tags were still there. I didn't see anything wrong with the jacket, and told the lady so.
"UH!" she scoffed, looking at me as if I'd grown an extra head--or somehow lost the one I'd been born with--"the buttons are on the wrong side!!!"
She insisted that I go to the girls department and see if I could find a jacket without this terrible defect, but they were all the same. I felt sorry for the little girl. It was obvious she loved the jacket.
"She really wants it," said the grandmother, "but I'm sorry. I just can't buy her a jacket like that."
And they left without it.
Poor kid.
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3 comments:
Ah, retail. How I despised every moment of it (and there were years worth). This is very like an encounter I once had. A woman complained about a little girls' shirt that was covered with a design of flowers and bows. The problem? They were blue flowers and bows. As if this were obviously a boys flowery, bow-bedecked shirt. If I recall correctly, it even had a ruffle.
Goodness.
We used to joke in the IT biz that "this business wouldn't be all that bad...if it wasn't for the customers." S'true...across the board. Customers pay the bills, and they're always right (as it should be). But they can also be as dumb as the proverbial brick. I'm glad I'm not there any longer.
Sus, yeah, I really felt sorry for that little girl. What's the big deal about which side the buttons are on anyway? It's not like they will warp the wearer for life.
Buck, dumb as a brick is about right! But it makes for some interesting conversations.
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