Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you really want to do something, but you know that...even though it totally makes sense to you....others may think you are crazy if you actually do it? Well, sometimes....I just have to do those types of things anyway.So, I'm in a fabric store where I had just selected my 4 bolts of lovely flannel when I found myself at the cutting table with a couple of women in front of me and no store employees on the other side of the counter.
After waiting for what felt like 10 minutes, but was probably only 2, the cutter returned to the table with three large rolls of 2" ribbons. They were for the ladies in front of me and each roll needed to be measured...which is fine. The first roll was unwound and measured (it was 10' long) and then, the store employee proceeded to slowly and meticulously roll the ribbon back onto the spool.
Now, in my mind I'm thinking, "How weird would it be if I offered to do the re-rolling? This is going to take FOREVER!! Will they think I'm rude? Or just nuts?" I'm proud to say I refrained from stepping in....until she got to the second roll of ribbon (8' long) and started re-rolling.
I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to offer my help! There were three of us just standing there staring at the one person who was doing all the work...slowly!
I put on my sheepish, unjudgmental face and said "Could I please roll that up for you?" They all looked at me like I was a little crazy....so I added "I'm really hungry." They laughed nervously and the employee handed over the ribbon and I happily started winding it back onto the spool.
When it came time to wind the final spool, the lady buying the ribbon actually offered to do it...I felt a little bad...but seriously....I was really hungry and I just wanted to buy my fabric and get out of there.
Fortunately, I don't go there often, but I really do think I was totally justified....I just wanted to help. And in my defense, I was starving to death and I could tell my stomach was eyeing my liver as a possible place to find sustenance....though I wouldn't have eaten anything last night if I thought my stomach could go ahead and start munching on other pockets of stored cellulite....
6 comments:
I can totally see you doing that! Super dang funny!!
see, the beauty of what you did is that you saw where you could help it go faster... not just demanded they go faster without any way to achieve it. Perfectly done, I think.
I think people should try to be more aware of who is around them and how they can make things move along... but is that just because I do customer service and I think about that kind of thing? I was trying to get to my table in Ihop today and was completely blocked off by a little girl standing with her back to me in the aisle, playing and not moving a muscle, and not one person at her table noticed anything was going on or looked at me. I was holding a 24 lb car seat and my arms were about to fall off so I finally said, "I'm sorry, could you help me to get through?" and some lady grabbed the kid and my arms stayed in their sockets. SO WORTH IT.
This is a systemic problem at fabric stores. As a husband who finds himself all too often at these stores, something should be done.
You should never apologize or rationalize doing something nice! That would've made my day if I were working there. :)
I am sooo glad that you took a stand. I agree with "Joe" (whoever he is) that this is a serious problem that all fabric stores have in common. Way to step up and provide a solution!
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