when i started this blog [January 14 2006 and approximately 400 entries ago] i wrote a couple “shop talk” entries. i’ve let that slide, but think i will start it up again. because, you hear the best things in stores!
also, when i started the SDR blog i worked part-time in a clothing store. but now i work part-time in a craft store. i think i prefer to help people out with making things instead of fashion talk. i like to do fashion talk here.
i get a lot of funny requests at work- “how can i make this mousetrap into a car?”, “how can i fill this shoebox with a miniature japanese meditation room?”. and yesterday i got- “can you sell rockets to people who are mentally ill?”, more about this later.
for anyone who hasn’t figured it out through my online “broadcasting”, i live in Vancouver Canada. and live & work in a neighbourhood near the ocean, once populated by quiet money WASPs, hippies and west coast dudes/dudettes but now somewhat overrun by Hummers, specifically those Duecks. i’m not saying the past or present is better, i’m just saying. i have always had a love/hate relationship with my hood. but i do like my $3- a visit, floor-to-ceiling-glass community center that overlooks a a cricket club. and i do like the trees.
anyway. sometimes i work at the store on Saturdays. which i like. people with a lot of “personality” come in, i like people with a lot of “personality”.
the 1st interesting incident that day was my intercepting an elderly hippie women from antagonizing another client about using a plastic bag. guess what? i am against plastic bags too. i mean i make reusable bags that can work very well for shopping. that’s what i do with mine. she was very aggressive about it. and since that previous customer and i had already talked about her guilt over using this ONE plastic bag i felt like another customer having a go at her was a bit much. so she then turned her “concerns” on me. amazing. especially since i was on her side. ahem.
let’s get back to rocket guys. we sell A LOT of rockets. these 2 guys were so funny. one very preppy in a pink polo button-down. both pretty yuppy. in response to the “mentally ill” question, i said it wasn’t my job to judge other people’s mental well-being. that was just the beginning of this awesome-type conversation. i unlocked the rocket engine cabinet for them. they argued amiably if not spastically over using the 7 or 10 second delay engines. they mocked each other’s ability to even count to 10. they clutched expensive rockets in their arms. they were totally wasted on a hot summer afternoon.
on the way back to the cash pink shirt guy says to me- “it must be weird for you to work in a craft store, i mean all the nerds you have to deal with and you are a hot babe”. i said i was a “combo deal” and a nerd too. they told me they were engineers, and sort of argued amongst themselves about that too. i wish i videotaped this because it was like talking to Bert & Ernie imitating yuppies telling me they were engineers. at this point i noticed what looked like “icing sugar” dabbed above one engineer’s upper lip. “icing sugar”. well maybe he likes donuts. this is Canada after all.
they asked if i worked for commission. i didn’t say anything. but suggested since we were all being so honest today, they could just give me more money if they felt like it. with the transaction almost, finally complete we got talking about google. pink shirt icing sugar guy says suggestively- “so you like to be googled huh…”. yuppy #2 apologizes. i do the eyebrow raise, roll-eyes, shnortle-laugh, headshake, walk away thing.
it was pretty hilarious.
