Turtle Pull

Once again, I find myself stuck helping a snobby duo–two women who are dressed like they want to impress, but just look excessive in the act. Can you guess they aren’t pleasant, they’re demanding, and treat you like you’re just there to serve? Very good, then you may proceed.

I help find a turtleneck sweater, after she lists a laundry list of requirements which it passes. Is it wool? Is it cotton? How heavy is it, I don’t want it too heavy. I don’t want it too thin either. Do you have a lot of colors? How much does it cost? Is it expensive? No, yes, light, not too light, lots of colors, on sale, not expensive.

So finally, she tries on the sweater, with her friend giving positive and negative comments–which is always useful, don’t we always want friends like that? “It looks good, not great, just good, do you like it? It looks like it will keep you warm enough, but are you going to be cold wearing it?”

Either way, the woman grabs the neck of the sweater saying it’s too tight. As I watch, she starts to pull on it as hard as she can, pulling, stretching, yanking, tugging. I can hear threads breaking from where I stand. “It’s too tight! It’s so tight, don’t you have a looser one?” I think to myself, “If it’s looser, it isn’t a turtle neck.” I say, “I only have cowl necks,” which I gesture, too. These look like stretched out turtle necks–just like what she’s doing to my new sweater! “No, no, that’s too wide!” So after stretching it out, breaking the threading, she hands it back saying she doesn’t want it, and they leave saying, “It’s just so hard to find what I’m looking for. This place usually has it.”

What, we have what dreams are made of? Once you’re actually rich enough to act like that, you can buy your own tailor.

Customer Types: Capitalist, The Questioner, Tailor-Made

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Tube Socks

At the same time I had my gift receipt customer, I hear a loud, rude customer next to me speaking to one of my more sassy coworkers. I hear the woman ask for socks, and my coworker points toward the sock wall we have for woman.
“No, I want tube socks!”
“Tube socks?”
“Tube socks! Those aren’t tube socks. You don’t know what tube socks are?” The woman turns toward her friend and says with way too much cocky attitude, “Tube socks, those are the thick ones, right? Tube socks, the ones that are long and go up your leg, right? Tube socks. That’s what tube socks are!”
I’m utterly surprised my coworker didn’t snap back, nor point out the fact tube socks like that are of the manlier variety and I’m sure men’s socks would have been perfect for her womanly virtues. I laugh, and say, “I think we have those kind of socks in the back.” Since, we do have winter socks, which are thick, but not tube socks, but it would be good enough for this customer. Otherwise, I’d point at the men’s socks, because they’re ‘thick’ and ‘go up your leg’.

Some people are just too much, like when guys ask for the jeans with elastic, or woman ask for ‘mom jeans’. I know what they are, not everyone knows, but that doesn’t mean we or anyone else carries it for the plethora of customers that come asking. Supply and demand usually means buying a lot of what you like before it becomes extinct.

Customer types: Lowered Expectations