First customer of the day is this Super Perky Cheerleader-type with her little daughter and four bolts of fleece. I go up to the cutting counter and ask politely, "How may I help you?"
SC (very perky and chipper): Well, aren't you the Gloomy Gus, [my name]!
ME:
SC: I only need a little of this, but I'm not a sewer. How big is a quarter yard?
ME: That's nine inches.
SC (as if I'm the idiot): Well, I don't know how big nine inches is! Show me!
I measured out nine inches and showed her how much she'd get. I'm about to start cutting when I notice that her little daughter is standing right up to the cutting counter, looking straight down the cutting guide, her hand resting over the end of the cutting guide, an inch away from the end of the fabric.
ME (to the daughter): I need you to move away from there, please, I'm going to be cutting there.
The child moved her hand but stayed right there, her face about two inches away from the end of the cutting guide. She does not understand, and apparently Mummy doesn't either. I try again.
ME: I need you to move back please, these scissors are sharp. (I hold up my scissors to show how sharp and pointy they are.)
SC: You are just so mean, [my name], we won't be coming here again! Not like your coworker, who was so nice and helpful.
She beamed at my coworker, who looked rather confused by the whole thing. Well, frankly, I'm a bit confused too. What part of "sharp pointy thing going straight at child's face = very bad" is she not understanding?! If my scissors slipped, something horrible would've happened to that child, and I don't need that on my conscience. Every mother I've served understood and immediately move their kids away, but not this one. Oh no, I'm not looking out for her child's safety at all, I'm telling her to move away because I'm a Big Meany-Head, out to spoil her child's fun! And while I cut the rest of her fabric, she kept chivvying her child away and treating me like I was a monster.
The thing that got me was the customer's attitude. If you've ever seen Addams Family Values, the chipper, hyper-happy camp counselor is very similar to this customer, or possibly a mix of Pollyanna and Dolores Umbridge, with a bit of Helen A thrown in. Oh so perky, oh so chipper, and anybody who was less perky than she was obviously a Horrible Mean Ogre out to destroy all goodness in the world.
I was not in any way mean or rude to them. Okay, I am not a Perky Chipper Happy Sunflower. I am not the Evil Scowl Monster either. I'm somewhere in between, where most people are. So apparently in this SC's Shiny Happy World, not being perky and chipper = gloomy and rude and mean. Okaayy, time to switch to decaf, methinks.
SC (very perky and chipper): Well, aren't you the Gloomy Gus, [my name]!
ME:
SC: I only need a little of this, but I'm not a sewer. How big is a quarter yard?
ME: That's nine inches.
SC (as if I'm the idiot): Well, I don't know how big nine inches is! Show me!
I measured out nine inches and showed her how much she'd get. I'm about to start cutting when I notice that her little daughter is standing right up to the cutting counter, looking straight down the cutting guide, her hand resting over the end of the cutting guide, an inch away from the end of the fabric.
ME (to the daughter): I need you to move away from there, please, I'm going to be cutting there.
The child moved her hand but stayed right there, her face about two inches away from the end of the cutting guide. She does not understand, and apparently Mummy doesn't either. I try again.
ME: I need you to move back please, these scissors are sharp. (I hold up my scissors to show how sharp and pointy they are.)
SC: You are just so mean, [my name], we won't be coming here again! Not like your coworker, who was so nice and helpful.
She beamed at my coworker, who looked rather confused by the whole thing. Well, frankly, I'm a bit confused too. What part of "sharp pointy thing going straight at child's face = very bad" is she not understanding?! If my scissors slipped, something horrible would've happened to that child, and I don't need that on my conscience. Every mother I've served understood and immediately move their kids away, but not this one. Oh no, I'm not looking out for her child's safety at all, I'm telling her to move away because I'm a Big Meany-Head, out to spoil her child's fun! And while I cut the rest of her fabric, she kept chivvying her child away and treating me like I was a monster.
The thing that got me was the customer's attitude. If you've ever seen Addams Family Values, the chipper, hyper-happy camp counselor is very similar to this customer, or possibly a mix of Pollyanna and Dolores Umbridge, with a bit of Helen A thrown in. Oh so perky, oh so chipper, and anybody who was less perky than she was obviously a Horrible Mean Ogre out to destroy all goodness in the world.
I was not in any way mean or rude to them. Okay, I am not a Perky Chipper Happy Sunflower. I am not the Evil Scowl Monster either. I'm somewhere in between, where most people are. So apparently in this SC's Shiny Happy World, not being perky and chipper = gloomy and rude and mean. Okaayy, time to switch to decaf, methinks.
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