Venting

I'm just going to keep posting, even though my Mom is the only one reading...

You know what's annoying about retail? Or, at least, retail in a high end boutique? The fact that I sometimes have to explain why things are expensive.

It's not that I blame these people for being a little shocked when they see that the price of a t-shirt can be from $40-78. That seemed rather extravagant to me at first, also. But then you realize that we're talking about a t-shirt that is made of quality materials which will last for 10 years or more without fading or getting strangely stretched out. That, and the company from which we buy our t-shirts is an American company. All of their shirts are made in the US, from materials that were also made in the US. Sure, t-shirts from some third-world country are half the price, but they're probably made by slave children. OK, that might be exaggerating just a smidge.

Huh. My spell-checker doesn't recognize the word "smidge". Is that a legitimate word, or just something my family made up? It's so hard to tell...


Anyway, I hate having to explain all this to people, and they still look angry and incredulous and say things like "that's outrageous" and throw the t-shirt, all crumpled up, back on the table and then storm out of the store. (I actually had someone do that to me, before I even had a chance to explain about the slave children.) Now, I understand if that's too much for people to pay. Heck, even with my discount it's too much for ME to pay, so I really can't blame them. But do they have to be rude about it? To me? It's not MY fault. The company gives us suggested retail prices, and we're not, technically, supposed to change them. Plus, we buy these t-shirts and need to make some money from them. Our store, in particular, doesn't use a very high markup. A lot of stores mark their merchandise up way more than we do, so it's unfair to treat us like it's our fault. If you want to go to The Devil, I mean, Walmart, and buy clothes that will fall apart after one year, then fine. Do it. There's no need to be rude to me over a t-shirt.

And then there are the dressing rooms. I'm not saying you have to put all the stuff you tried on back, (that's my job), but you could at least put the $200 dress back on it's hanger instead of leaving it huddled and quivering on the floor in a crumpled heap. You may not want to buy it, but someone else might. Come on people! Make an effort! Take the time to be courteous! It doesn't take much time at all, and the world will be a better place if you do.


You know how I was going on about how beautiful New York is in the Spring? I seem to be allergic to one of those "bursting with color" trees. My eyes are itchy, I keep sneezing, and my nose is running. And it happens at 3:00pm on the dot, every day. Must be something that blooms at that time. Once I've been indoors for a while, it's OK, but spending anytime outside is less than fun.

I feel better now. Hopefully my next entry won't be so whiny.

Later,
Jules