Giving Thanks 3

Today I'm going just a tad toward the frivolous and giving thanks for Good Service.  It's that time of year when you pull out the next  season's clothes from storage and realize that what you do have needs help.

So I hied myself off to a mall and hit one of my regular stores.  I was largely ignored and the person with me was absolutely ignored.  A sales clerk finally approached and asked if she could help: I said I was looking for solid colored shirts.

"The Tees are over there..."

"I was thinking of something more like a shirt...", I said.

 And she went wafting off.

I did finally buy one pair of jeans and was given a little lip at the register by the same clerk who seemed to want to look me up by my phone number rather than use the member card I was holding out to her.  I left feeling that I had interrupted her fun: we were the only ones in the store.  Perhaps she wanted to get back to the novel she was reading in the back room.

Two doors down was a new store; a British concern that had opened a few months before.  There was a lovely dress just inside the door in a jewel-toned paisley, a lovely patterned blouse and an embroidered evening dress.  I was lured in.  The two women greeted me, my companion, and anyone else who came to the store as a friend.  They didn't have assigned customers; they worked as a team, making sure no one was left waiting for help.

Over the next hour or so I tried on more than 45 items: 15 I selected myself and the rest clothes they thought I might like.  Their choices were better than mine.

I was noy pressured.  I was not made to feel out of place: I noticed women of all ages in the store.  They were helpful.  They provided honest feedback.  I lest with three items that made me feel pretty.   The store?  Monsoon in Holyoke MA.  The experience?  It reminded me of the training I received in an upscale boutique in Philly.  The clothes? Well made.    Why I am thankful?  I don't usually enjoy shopping, I usually leave with my ego in shreds.  This was different, due largely to two young women who loved their job and liked people.