Every day when I head off to work I know I’m going to face at least one person that will make an attempt to gain access to the hidden counselor inside me.  Each and every one of them finds their own unique way of hooking my attention and reeling me in.  Yesterday that customer was a tall blonde woman in her late 50’s.  She appeared and began asking innocent questions about paint.  I’ve done a lot of painting in my life so I was more than happy to offer my advice.

Before long I knew she had two sons that were both in college and that she had a friend that liked pigs.  I found out the fascinating silver pots that sit on the table near the back corner of her deck were actually faded plastic and she spray painted them with the most beautiful silver spray paint ever made!  She was the envy of all her friends and I knew this by the sparkle in her eye when she was telling me about each one of their individual compliments.  Before long the conversation shifted to the faded mesh pub height deck chairs she purchased at a garage sale a few years ago and I was asked what she might do to brighten them up.  Apparently the chairs get very little use but it’s nice having them for the times when they entertain.  Extra seating is always nice.

I’m not sure how a conversation can go from advice on paint, to kids in college, to spray painted pots, to talking about faded mesh on deck chairs, to microwavable pot holders with mitered corners but that’s the direction we headed next.  Before long I heard about the friend that used the wrong kind of batting and ended up having a lightening storm inside her microwave!  The friend was mortified due to the fact that she had made lots of them before Christmas and gave almost all of them away as gifts! I also learned that if you have a microwave that doubles as a convection oven you don’t have to worry about your gift from your “pot holder making” friend as it’s only the microwaves that are just microwaves that seem to have the issues with lightening bouncing off the mitered corner pot holders housing the “stormy” batting.  I also received a brief summary on the lightening occurrences and it was determined that the first use was the worst and the storm calmed considerably during the second and future uses of these handy creations!  I am almost 100% sure I slept better last night just knowing this.

I learned that my patient….er, ah, I mean customer was not at all artistic but she did create some painted dish towels for her sons to use at college.  She was shocked when she learned they were never dampened with the residual water from washed dishes but rather perceived as artwork and her boys insisted she help them determine the best method for hanging those masterpieces! Her pig loving friend caught wind of this dish towel art and immediately offered herself as the next recipient of one of these frame worthy creations so the pink paint that was originally seated in the palm of the hand of my customer that had a few questions about it was well on it’s way to becoming an element of utmost importance needed to create the magnificent, the awe inspiring, the grand “Pig-casso!”

Life should never be boring.  If you find it boring you are doing something wrong.  If you’re struggling miserably and have no idea how to eliminate this boredom, work retail! I’m not going to say you’ll always love it but I am going to say, you will never be bored!