There’s No Business Like Shoe Business

Most importantly, and this goes for the men as well as the women, familiarize yourself with what time the store closes.  Don’t waltz in five minutes before closing and start looking to upgrade your wardrobe.  If you can’t get there the 12 hours the store is open, then perhaps mail order might be an option.  We would like to go home and be with our families and friends.  More than likely, you don’t like it when someone comes in, just as you’re about to dive for the exit at your job at quitting time, only to find out that something must be done before you go home.  Retail workers are the same way.

In addition, we tend to get a little cranky when we’ve been on our feet all day.  I can think of three instances, just as the store was about to close, that I may have been a little less than user friendly, because someone came up to me with the “Stupid Question of the Day.”

1.     During a busy boot sale, the floor was trashed with boots all over the place, out of their boxes and strewn about.  A woman came up to me as we were trying to clean this disaster up and asked me, “Where would I find Italian boots?”  My response: “In Italy.”

2.     A man, who had me watching him try on the same two pairs of shoes, for over a half hour, because he couldn’t decide which pair to buy inquired, “I hope I haven’t taken too much of your time.  Have I?”  My response: “I’ve had warts go away faster than you.”

3.     My favorite was the woman whose three kids kept pulling shoes out of boxes and bringing them to their mother who, instead of telling the kids to stop doing this, would then just stick the shoes anywhere on the shelves, asked me, “What is your return policy?”  My response: “Don’t.”

So, in conclusion, if you’ve never worked in retail, perhaps you should, if only for a short time.  You’ll gain a new respect for these people who work hard, for small wages, and continue to smile.  (I’ve found sticking a shoe horn in my mouth achieves this goal.)