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I alter clothes. At the two location I work now, most of the customers are nice.
There is one, though, that has gotten under my skin a bit. I waited on “Mr. M” at Location 1, marked his trousers, sewed them, and about ten days later at Location 2, the same pants come through the line. Same customer, now receptive to the alterations I suggested some days before at the other job, although it was my boss who waited on him the second time.
Fast forward a few days, and Mr. M walked into Location 2, and wanted to have another pair of trousers tailored. He stood in front of the mirror, looked at me a moment, and asked why I looked familiar. I told him I work at Locations 1 and 2. Well, he went on a rant. I was not to touch his clothes, I was incompetent, I had nearly ruined his pants, on and on. In fact, he ranted (no kidding) the entire time he was in the dressing room changing his clothes, and all the way out the door.
Mr. M had had a very successful career in one industry and after moving to our little city has been equally successful in something entirely different. Talking with both bosses, though, they view him as a bit of a head case. Eavesdropping a bit, I discovered that other people in town have the same impression, or they think he has a problem with alcohol.
Last week, Boss 2 handed me a fox pelt. He instructed me to sew a hook onto the head end of the pelt, and an loop onto the hind end. For those of you under fifty or so, there was an accessory that women wore back in the nineteen forties or fifties. It looked like this:
It had a three-dimensional head and glass eyes and while hideous, was still nicely finished, for what it was. It had a clip attached to the underside of the head, where the mouth would be, to attach itself to it's own tail.
This pelt, flat and empty and unlined, will not look like that.
It will not even remind people of that. I pondered all this while I worked on said pelt, eying Boss 2 and murmuring, “Boss, this will be...um...awful.” Boss 2 is all about pleasing the customer, and this was what this customer wanted.
I pondered the fact that we don't see a lot of fur now, or even fur protestors.
I thought about Richard Nixon and his comment about his wife's nice Republican wool coat.
I looked at the price tag still attached to the pelt and thought, “Who would have this kind of money to throw away and still have no taste?” And at that very moment in my internal dialog, Boss 2 looked at me and smiled a little, and asked, “Do you know who that's for?”
Yup, Mr. M, or more specifically, his current girlfriend.
There is one, though, that has gotten under my skin a bit. I waited on “Mr. M” at Location 1, marked his trousers, sewed them, and about ten days later at Location 2, the same pants come through the line. Same customer, now receptive to the alterations I suggested some days before at the other job, although it was my boss who waited on him the second time.
Fast forward a few days, and Mr. M walked into Location 2, and wanted to have another pair of trousers tailored. He stood in front of the mirror, looked at me a moment, and asked why I looked familiar. I told him I work at Locations 1 and 2. Well, he went on a rant. I was not to touch his clothes, I was incompetent, I had nearly ruined his pants, on and on. In fact, he ranted (no kidding) the entire time he was in the dressing room changing his clothes, and all the way out the door.
Mr. M had had a very successful career in one industry and after moving to our little city has been equally successful in something entirely different. Talking with both bosses, though, they view him as a bit of a head case. Eavesdropping a bit, I discovered that other people in town have the same impression, or they think he has a problem with alcohol.
Last week, Boss 2 handed me a fox pelt. He instructed me to sew a hook onto the head end of the pelt, and an loop onto the hind end. For those of you under fifty or so, there was an accessory that women wore back in the nineteen forties or fifties. It looked like this:
It had a three-dimensional head and glass eyes and while hideous, was still nicely finished, for what it was. It had a clip attached to the underside of the head, where the mouth would be, to attach itself to it's own tail.
This pelt, flat and empty and unlined, will not look like that.
It will not even remind people of that. I pondered all this while I worked on said pelt, eying Boss 2 and murmuring, “Boss, this will be...um...awful.” Boss 2 is all about pleasing the customer, and this was what this customer wanted.
I pondered the fact that we don't see a lot of fur now, or even fur protestors.
I thought about Richard Nixon and his comment about his wife's nice Republican wool coat.
I looked at the price tag still attached to the pelt and thought, “Who would have this kind of money to throw away and still have no taste?” And at that very moment in my internal dialog, Boss 2 looked at me and smiled a little, and asked, “Do you know who that's for?”
Yup, Mr. M, or more specifically, his current girlfriend.
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