Way Beyond the Call of Duty
There must be a full moon approaching - or maybe someone forgot to apply my wacko repellent today, because in the five hours I spent at work, I had more finicky customers and oddities than ever. Aside from your typical Glastonians complaining about return policies, because this particular Gap is upscale, they think it is unreasonable (as a Company) to have return policies that require you to show ID without a receipt. Hey rich lady, come back on the days when we are robbed blind and stop complaining about waiting for a mail refund. I�ve also learned that on the �black market� a roll of Gap register tap is worth about two Gs for all of the phony slips you can create. We keep ours locked up, but that�s nutso. Then your typical parade of women breezed through, tried on every pair of pants in their size, only to buy nothing and leave everything turned inside out on the floor. So, here's the gem. A woman comes in, and off the bat, I'd describe her as a high maintenance customer. She had a nice Louis Vuitton bag and something, I presume is trendy because it wasn't particularly flattering, going on with her eye makeup. Well, she wears a size 16 and had a large chest, so she's not going to be the perfect Gap model. But anyway, she comes in and immediately asks for help. Once she gets an armful of things to try on, she then asks me to accompany her to the dressing room to give her my opinion. Okay, this isn't such an unusual request - well, it then proceeded to get completely inappropriate. She takes the first dressing room - yeah, that's right, the one that is adjacent to the three-way mirror that the whole store can see. She never closed the door once while she changed in and out of tops and several pairs of pants, all the while leaving her 4" strappy heels on. People are breezing in and out of the dressing room, door wide open, exposed for all to see. Thankfully, 95% of our shoppers are women, otherwise, I think
everyone would have been embarrassed. But as this woman stripped, I am sure the scene was reflected to everyone else browsing. This was so not okay.
If it wasn't bad enough that I had to watch this woman strut about in her underwear, she then wanted me to be that "loyal-dedicated-complimentary-yet-honest-shopping-friend." She'd put something on and ask me about it, telling me she was on a diet to lose weight but just looking for something for now - how do you respond to that anyway?? First of all, never put me in this position - as a friend. As you might already know about me, I am a solitary shopper. I'll be happy to accompany you, if it is for you. But I like to shop alone, take all the time in the world, try something on two, three times... and then come home and tell you about it. Therefore, I don't have a high tolerance for this "needy shopper" type who needs constant assistance, praise, and buying consent. It is even worse when you don't know someone and you are at work. It is even worse when someone has the wrong body shape for the clothes they are trying on, but desperate for something, even though you know the best advice is to send her to a store with a better selection for her - not capri pants designed for the size 6 woman in all of us. I survived though, and she spent $171 and left wearing one of her new outfits. I never realized this was such a trend with middle-aged women, buying something and wearing it out of the store. Now I, like every other elementary school kid, was definitely guilty of this while buying the proverbial "new school shoes," wearing out the new kicks and leaving the stinky ones in the box - but at some point, you need to outgrow this. I've left the house and bought something new to wear that day - a rainy day at MoMa stands out when I made an emergency trip to the Gap for a jean skirt - but I at least had the decency to change at work, once my purchase was bought and paid for. You'd be shocked to know how many women do this, have me cut the tags off at the register or pull the size sticker off their jeans - often handing me the worn-in clothes to fold like I was some shoe salesman during the "back to school sale" at Stride Right. Oh, and later in the day, a newborn was crying in the dressing room area, I just poked my head in to make sure we didn�t have an abandoned kid or something � but there was a woman standing in the hallway rocking her baby in her underwear, obviously in the middle of try things on. Okay, the baby�s crying, think function over fashion � but please, ladies, let�s keep it clothed from here on out. If anyone wants to see some naked ladies, I can get you box seats.
Thankfully, I was out by 2 today and leaving that early tomorrow - it doesn't pad the checkbook, but I can't deal with people like that. I am anxious for Idol at 8:30, and for one week, I can honestly say that i have no idea what is going to happen. I think everyone was solid last night and I have no idea who will leave. I thought Kim was just average last night - she's been better, so maybe her? I tried to call in on Ruben's line throughout the two-hour call-in period, it was always busy. Maybe Ruben fans came out in full effect last night? I am ready and waiting, I'm waiting... when all of the Idol smoke and hair extensions have cleared, flip the box to USA for tonight's installment of Eco-Challenge, Mark Burnett's brainchild before he hatched the Survivor golden egg. I love this thing - 300-mile race in absurd wild jungle conditions, teams of four trekking through uncharted terrain. It's so excellent. Also, one of the teams has one obnoxious New Hampshiran, Jenna from Survivor, two of MTVs Road Rulers, and then the dreamy Ethan Zohn from Survivor Africa. Good stuff - and trust me, it's the real deal - it's dirty, dramatic, the scenery is breathtaking (Figi), and as melodramatic as any other reality series out there.
posted by lmjasinski at 7:12 PM
