I've been out. Shopping of course, and not the Saturday kind-of-trawling-in-supermarket Shopping. I never do that anyway, it's so boring, no worse, it makes me bad tempered. It all started as it always starts, I was actually certain that I wouldn't buy anything, but alas ( or hurray) I did. I walked past Franks, the smell was lovely because my olfactory nerves are nerves which really work overtime. So I went in. I did buy, but I think I'm never going there again. The girls there are snobs, they probably think being a salesgirl is like being president. It's not the first time it's happened there, on one other time I was badly abused by another girl. This time the vibe was excruciatingly painful, usually girls breathe down your neck, these two didn't even acknowledge I was in there, and it's not as if I'm exactly invisible. The last time I actually filed in a report. Now, I won't bother anymore. There are plenty of other perfumeries, and I have enough to last me a lifetime. Most are still sealed so they're not going off. Too bad for Franks, because I am good for the economy.
On the other hand, in the course of my heavy shoe-shopping I have made some acquaintances who know my feet like the palm of their hand. They are not heavily plastered in make-up like the girls working at Franks, but they are good enough. The minute I walk in it feels so much like home. They are welcoming, genuine people who are happy to help. They give good solid advice, and I like being in there. That is one reason why I am unable to kick this shoe habit. Apart from the fact that shoes make me feel good, these people are an added bonus. But as it turned out, my usual shoe shopping haunt didn't have anything new in yet, or perhaps I have bought most of the styles already in the last two weeks of taking my business there every day. So I went to another. I've been there quite a few times too, but I was feeling somewhat disgruntled, because of the treatment at Franks, and perhaps the heat had a part in it too. Anyway, I walk in, this pretty English lady comes up to me immediately and gives me such a heartwarming smile, and asks if I wore the killer snakeskin shoes I'd bought there about a month ago. Geeze she must see so many customers and this woman actually remembers the shoes I'd bought. And she wasn't wearing any of the light-reflecting mineral foundation that the perfumerie girls wore, but her smile lit up her face, and consequently mine. And here it comes, the talk turns to shopping and she tells me of how her boyfriend never grumbled on shopping trips. Then she drops this bombshell, she says.... but God took him away from me. Shit, I was about to cry. Here was this pretty woman trying to make ends meet, with the face of an angel and with a past not unlike mine. Perhaps salesgirls should refrain from personal talk, but I don't agree because it felt so right and I really didn't mind, I actually stood there rooted with one foot in one shoe and realised that she still smiled, didn't think she was the President, and that she was no robot but a human being hurting. And so pretty. An old head on young shoulders and far prettier than the Frankie girls. She just had unfinished business, so like myself. She was a normal human being with feelings not a snooty robot who smirked at God knows what. The result... I walked out with three pairs of shoes and would have gladly bought more but it was almost closing time and I realised that this woman had been on her feet all day.
So now I keep thinking about her, I don't even know her name. But I know she is a big sweetheart. The shoestore is so lucky to have her, and I really have learnt something.
On the other hand, in the course of my heavy shoe-shopping I have made some acquaintances who know my feet like the palm of their hand. They are not heavily plastered in make-up like the girls working at Franks, but they are good enough. The minute I walk in it feels so much like home. They are welcoming, genuine people who are happy to help. They give good solid advice, and I like being in there. That is one reason why I am unable to kick this shoe habit. Apart from the fact that shoes make me feel good, these people are an added bonus. But as it turned out, my usual shoe shopping haunt didn't have anything new in yet, or perhaps I have bought most of the styles already in the last two weeks of taking my business there every day. So I went to another. I've been there quite a few times too, but I was feeling somewhat disgruntled, because of the treatment at Franks, and perhaps the heat had a part in it too. Anyway, I walk in, this pretty English lady comes up to me immediately and gives me such a heartwarming smile, and asks if I wore the killer snakeskin shoes I'd bought there about a month ago. Geeze she must see so many customers and this woman actually remembers the shoes I'd bought. And she wasn't wearing any of the light-reflecting mineral foundation that the perfumerie girls wore, but her smile lit up her face, and consequently mine. And here it comes, the talk turns to shopping and she tells me of how her boyfriend never grumbled on shopping trips. Then she drops this bombshell, she says.... but God took him away from me. Shit, I was about to cry. Here was this pretty woman trying to make ends meet, with the face of an angel and with a past not unlike mine. Perhaps salesgirls should refrain from personal talk, but I don't agree because it felt so right and I really didn't mind, I actually stood there rooted with one foot in one shoe and realised that she still smiled, didn't think she was the President, and that she was no robot but a human being hurting. And so pretty. An old head on young shoulders and far prettier than the Frankie girls. She just had unfinished business, so like myself. She was a normal human being with feelings not a snooty robot who smirked at God knows what. The result... I walked out with three pairs of shoes and would have gladly bought more but it was almost closing time and I realised that this woman had been on her feet all day.
So now I keep thinking about her, I don't even know her name. But I know she is a big sweetheart. The shoestore is so lucky to have her, and I really have learnt something.
