I am a middle aged woman. I am not fashionable. I am slightly overweight. I wear sensible shoes. I do not wear makeup. I am what you might call frumpy. I also have more disposable income than you will have for at least 20 years, if you stay in school and make smart choices. I have two teenage daughters who are decidedly not frumpy, and I like to buy them things. However, I will not be buying those things from your store if you look at me with disdain when I enter, and surreptitiously roll your eyes at your co-worker when I ask for assistance.
Are you under the impression that I am there shopping for myself? Do you assume that I am not going to find anything suitable, so you’re not going to waste your time serving me? Or do you think I’m just lost and don’t realize I’m in the wrong store? Do you think I will stand there waiting patiently while you ignore me to wait on customers who look less out of place? You are mistaken. What I will do is take my matronly, frumpy, size 16 ass, and my money, to another store. And you can sell that half price sweater to that perky 17 year old, while I drop six hundred dollars next door.
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2008.
Hahahaha, awesome.
Yes! This could have been written by my mother. Kudos to you for pointing out their ignorance.
Good for you!!! You should also consider sending a letter to the head office – crappy customer service has been tolerated long enough. I know it’s not every young person working that is like this, but it’s enough of them that it ruins it for those that actually serve with a smile and are genuine.
I am exactly what you describe, right down to my size 16 ass. Waiting patiently, as you saw, was a total waste of time. The clerks can do all the fucking eye-rolling and snorting they want as they serve me, it’s their waste of energy, not mine. I am astonished that this should bother you so much. I am only too happy to be free of youth and all its arrogant trappings and I’ll gladly dance a bouncy jig up and down the mall in celebration of that.
Spoken like a true lady.
You should say exactly to the next rude salesclerk exactly what you wrote here. I can’t stand this kind of asshole- they’re an embarassement. Imagine how stupid and shallow you’d have to be in order not to know that you should never judge a book by its cover! Their loss; hopefully they get fired for not meeting their sales quota.
This kind of thing also happens to the younger “perky” crowd too! I was in a store downtown with my best friend to pick up something and it was a pretty “upscale” establishment on Spring Garden where the clientele is usually my mother’s age — but they sell the cosmetics I use. Anyway, I went in and the first thing they did was ask us (20 something students) what we wanted as if to say “in the wrong place?”….so we stayed and decided to be obnoxious a little. It felt nice.Needless to say I didn’t buy the product there, and have no intention of going back.
So you walked around the store being obnoxious and then left without buying anything? Oh yes, you taught them a lesson and proved your point. Either that or you became the exact stereotype you don’t want to be associated with. Take your pick, I already did. Congratulations, instead of taking the high road and maybe changing their view on their younger clients you did nothing but make it even harder for the next younger “perky” girl who goes in there for a legit reason.
Meh, they wanted us gone from the minute we walked in, so we stuck around to annoy them a bit. Reason they didn’t want us in there was because they assumed we didn’t have enough money to buy anything in there…so meh. they can bite me for all i care.
You know, when you think about it, Frumpy Mom reenforced the stereotype just as much as pretty kitty. The conversation may have gone something like this: “Did you see that fat old lady wandering around?””Yeah. She looked crabby! Maybe she couldn’t find the support hose department.””Hee hee hee!”Of course, the only way Frumpy Mom could have refuted their assumptions would have been to spend her money there, thereby rewarding them for their snotty attitude. Catch 22.
The stereotype wasn’t that we were obnoxious younger people, the stereotype was that we didn’t have enough money to be in there in the first place. I did, but like miranda pointed out, spending it there would’ve rewarded them for their snootiness.
Retail….for those who think it’s a “career”…what a joke. Proud supporter of online shopping. Let’s put retail staff out on the EI line.
What store?????
A said: “Imagine how stupid and shallow you’d have to be in order not to know that you should never judge a book by its cover!”Exactly stupid and shallow enough to be a cashier in a clothing store?