Posted:Tue Nov 3, 2009 7:16 AM CST
Tales From Register No. 7, And the Wishy-Washy Lad
This morning, while I was waiting for my next customer at 4am, a woman rolled her cart to my register. She was very put together and I wondered why she was so made-up this early in the morning. As if reading my mind, she told me that she woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep so she decided to go to my place of business. Hmmm, a shopping insomniac, I thought to myself. Generally, when I can’t sleep, I will watch some lame infomercial or re-run on TV. or if I really can’t sleep I turn it to QVC or HSN and listen to how great the products are. So many colorful adjectives. Pretty much a crash course in sales. Well, back to my story. Upon hearing this, I couldn’t help notice how perfect her makeup was and how she used a generous amount of lip liner and gloss. To make such an effort at 4 am. I was impressed.
Then I saw the blank look on her face as she looked from plant to plant. She had filled her cart with 2 large house plants, an ivy, a blouse and 2 bouquets of flowers. I gingerly placed the flowers in the sack as she continued to spin and examine the 2 plants. “Which one do you like better?” she asked. “Well”, I said, “if it were me I would choose the peace lily, since I tend to neglect my plants and they manage to live anyway.”
“Well”, she said, “I think I like this other one better…”
Hmmmm, I thought, then why did she ask me?
She continued to twirl the pots and debate on each plant’s qualities.
“I will get this on” (not the peace lily).
Hmmm, I’m glad I could be of assistance.
Then she pulled the blouse from the cart and gave it the same examination as the houseplants.
“Do you like this shirt?” she asked.
“Oh yes, it is very nice” I said.
“Have many people purchased it?” she inquired.
“Yes, it is very popular,” I assured.
She flipped the garment front to back, and gave serious thought.
“I guess I will get it.” She said and placed it on the counter.
Then she picked up the 2 bouquets, placed them upside down in the cart and started to roll away.
“Do you like turkey?” I said, “They are on sale for a fantastic price of 40 cents a pound.”
I could see the wheels turning.