Thank you Rafael - glad you enjoyed! Very kind of you to say. And yes - interesting points there. I dithered over writing about hapless shop guy because I didn't want to be mean and who knows, perhaps his partner had split with him that morning or his toaster had blown up. I didn't want to sound all, 'Oh, I expect top notch service y'know!' But then I couldn't help myself.
I haven't got a running shoe shopping experience story to tell because a) I haven't run since the year dot and b) I still refer to trainers as daps ! But I know exactly what you mean. Husband and I went fridge freezer shopping. After perusing the aisles of many pretty identical fridges and deciding on a Bosch only because we liked the colour (charcoal grey) we waited for a shop assistant to appear so we could start the whole buying business. None appeared. Maybe it was because nobody could see us hidden in the Bosch, Meile, LG, Logix, Hoover, Samsung alley. So we ventured out. Still no one. We decided to split and seek out. You take the washing machine area, I instructed husband. I'll take cookers. Off we went. I spied a purple polo shirted chap. Success, but it was short lived. He was on his way back to TVs and kitchen appliances wasn't his department. Damn! I looked across the shop and spied my six foot five husband waving frantically in my direction. We were in luck. We then spent the next ten minutes turning down all the add-ons and answering a customer care questionnaire before leaving the shop and deciding that the washing machine could last a bit longer.
The fridge freezer arrived and it was huge. Taller than my husband. It looked smaller in the shop, but it'll have to do!
Love your description of splitting up to take different areas! I think I know the store. I had similar experience with my 89 year old dad, trying to help him buy a laptop. You'll know the branch - my lifeblood is there, having seeped through the floor xx
This is so funny and sad. I know exactly that depressed, vacant look the shop staff give you. Like they have no idea why you're there, or why they're there, or what's the point of anything, really...
Thanks for the laughs, Fiona! "It’s like the last time I went for a bikini wax (in something like 1842), and the young technician gawped at my offending lady area and rushed away, returning with scissors of an industrial nature and grimacing, as if about to skin a rat." Ha!
And yes, those deserted shops! Even the big Boots in town has switched to self-service. No anticipation in the queue, waiting to see which real live cashier would summon you next, asking, "Do you have a points card?".
Glad you enjoyed Wendy! Yes - Boots seems to have transformed rapidly from being crammed with eager make up testing teenagers to a cavernous wasteland (and who buys those bleak chilled sandwiches?) x
I worked in a superstore in the US for over twenty years-five years, and I bet that during that period I worked with two-thousand different people. The turnover rate in those places is incredible. The owners/directors know that there are two main problems: the low pay and the ridiculous level of things they promise customers that they can never possibly deliver with their skeleton crews. By the time I’d get someone trained to do a minimal to passable job in their department that kid would quit because he/she hated the job. The only reason I stayed there so long was the health insurance. I was really excited when Barack Obama was elected in’08, because he promised that with his health care plan you’d be able to take your insurance with you if you changed jobs. Well, that never happened, and workers in the US who are fortunate enough to have health benefits are chained to their jobs just like before.
BTW, you are funny as hell, young lady! I’m not even going to quote your best zingers, because you know that you can handle yourself with words. Your post was killing me! Please keep posting and keep us laughing.
Thank you Rafael - glad you enjoyed! Very kind of you to say. And yes - interesting points there. I dithered over writing about hapless shop guy because I didn't want to be mean and who knows, perhaps his partner had split with him that morning or his toaster had blown up. I didn't want to sound all, 'Oh, I expect top notch service y'know!' But then I couldn't help myself.
I haven't got a running shoe shopping experience story to tell because a) I haven't run since the year dot and b) I still refer to trainers as daps ! But I know exactly what you mean. Husband and I went fridge freezer shopping. After perusing the aisles of many pretty identical fridges and deciding on a Bosch only because we liked the colour (charcoal grey) we waited for a shop assistant to appear so we could start the whole buying business. None appeared. Maybe it was because nobody could see us hidden in the Bosch, Meile, LG, Logix, Hoover, Samsung alley. So we ventured out. Still no one. We decided to split and seek out. You take the washing machine area, I instructed husband. I'll take cookers. Off we went. I spied a purple polo shirted chap. Success, but it was short lived. He was on his way back to TVs and kitchen appliances wasn't his department. Damn! I looked across the shop and spied my six foot five husband waving frantically in my direction. We were in luck. We then spent the next ten minutes turning down all the add-ons and answering a customer care questionnaire before leaving the shop and deciding that the washing machine could last a bit longer.
The fridge freezer arrived and it was huge. Taller than my husband. It looked smaller in the shop, but it'll have to do!
Love your description of splitting up to take different areas! I think I know the store. I had similar experience with my 89 year old dad, trying to help him buy a laptop. You'll know the branch - my lifeblood is there, having seeped through the floor xx
This is so funny and sad. I know exactly that depressed, vacant look the shop staff give you. Like they have no idea why you're there, or why they're there, or what's the point of anything, really...
That's exactly it! *Baffled 😄
Hilarious, but tragic at the same time - is there any wonder our High Streets are dying?
I do feel that! There's a post apocalyptic air that's hardly enticing x
Thanks for the laughs, Fiona! "It’s like the last time I went for a bikini wax (in something like 1842), and the young technician gawped at my offending lady area and rushed away, returning with scissors of an industrial nature and grimacing, as if about to skin a rat." Ha!
And yes, those deserted shops! Even the big Boots in town has switched to self-service. No anticipation in the queue, waiting to see which real live cashier would summon you next, asking, "Do you have a points card?".
Glad you enjoyed Wendy! Yes - Boots seems to have transformed rapidly from being crammed with eager make up testing teenagers to a cavernous wasteland (and who buys those bleak chilled sandwiches?) x
I worked in a superstore in the US for over twenty years-five years, and I bet that during that period I worked with two-thousand different people. The turnover rate in those places is incredible. The owners/directors know that there are two main problems: the low pay and the ridiculous level of things they promise customers that they can never possibly deliver with their skeleton crews. By the time I’d get someone trained to do a minimal to passable job in their department that kid would quit because he/she hated the job. The only reason I stayed there so long was the health insurance. I was really excited when Barack Obama was elected in’08, because he promised that with his health care plan you’d be able to take your insurance with you if you changed jobs. Well, that never happened, and workers in the US who are fortunate enough to have health benefits are chained to their jobs just like before.
BTW, you are funny as hell, young lady! I’m not even going to quote your best zingers, because you know that you can handle yourself with words. Your post was killing me! Please keep posting and keep us laughing.