I’ve decided I could write an entire blog about working retail and dealing with people but having two blogs would be a lot of work which would take the enjoyment out of it.  This would possibly cause me to stop writing altogether and I really don’t want to do that so I’ve decided to just sneak a retail spew in every once in a while which will help to alleviate a rather sizable amount of stress in my life.  This will benefit both of us as it will help to free the overwhelmed creative side of my brain which will inevitably make way for more creative and fascinating thoughts that I will openly and honestly share with you!  You’ll stick with me, won’t you? (Yeah, yeah, I know I sneak in more than a few retail spews but you love ’em and if you don’t love ’em you have at least learned how to tolerate them really well….am I right?!)

I just got home from day five of a 40 hour and 8 minute week.  I did everything in my power to not go over 40 hours but right at the end of the day I was cornered by not one, but two customers that had a bone to pick with somebody.  I’ve learned over time these situations require gargantuan amounts of patience, a dash of humor and lots of smiles but smiles are only administered when you are sure you have come up with a solution that will rock their world!

Situation Number 1:  A woman approached the counter and I knew we were in trouble when I heard the infamous “code words” roll out of her mouth.  Those “code words” would be:  “We have a bit of a dilemma.”  When we hear those words we know that what needs to happen next will require some fast thinking,  tact and an amicable solution.  This woman was one of those select few that arrives with an agenda and a big part of that agenda involves her desire to purchase exactly what she needs without a thread more.  In this case, when she originally purchased her fabric, she needed a fourth of a yard of 10 different fabrics.  I was told that when she got home she was not able to “square them up” because of the way they were cut when she purchased them.  When I measured them they were all cut with at least an inch of extra fabric.  On some there was a bit more.  This wasn’t okay with her.  For a split second I imagined I saw the roof on the building opening and then I watched the sky swallow her up so that the world would have one less of these types on the loose but in reality, I knew this wasn’t really happening so after telling her the person that cut her fabric was incredibly fair and that we can’t give a customer more fabric than they’re willing to pay for, I told her we would return the pieces that were too small even though it was against our policy and sell her larger pieces that she would be able to square up.  As she was making an attempt to round up the bolts of fabric she would need larger pieces of Situation Number 2 arrived in front of me.

Situation Number 2 turned out to be an elderly woman and her husband that had been waiting for quite some time as they didn’t realize they needed to take a number.  I’m not sure if they thought we were calling out people’s ages when we announced numbers for the next customer but the woman was not at all happy.  She had chosen a bolt of fabric she liked but needed help figuring out how much of it she was going to need for a throw and 4 pillows.  I’m pretty good at this type of thing so before long I had her yardage calculated and the fabric measured and she was leaving with a smile on her face.  I could tell by her husband’s demeanor that he only wore the pants in the family when his wife wasn’t and I could also tell by the sheepish smile he tossed in my direction when they were leaving that he was incredibly thankful things took a turn for the better before they left.

Situation Number 1 was heading back to the counter just as I was rolling over the 40 hour mark for the week and knew I had to go so I gave my co-worker a quick run down of the situation and then I left!  I tried not to leave tire tracks in the parking lot but even if there are some there, it would be really hard to prove they were made by me…..right?

I knew I shouldn’t have said yesterday was uneventful but as fate would have it, I was going to need to make an early withdrawal of that “extra resistance” that had a chance to accumulate when the sea of fabric was calm and the customers in the boat weren’t rocking only a few short hours ago!