I spent about a dozen years in retail so I could go on for days. It's been 20 years but I still have the dream where customers start wandering in even though we're not open yet. The worst part was the day after the day after Christmas because that's when we would get all the returns, one after another all day long.
There was the woman who returned the outfit for her newborn because he didn't look good in that color.
There was the woman who returned the bathrobe because it clashed with her bathroom.
There was the woman who put a curse on me because I wouldn't (couldn't!) do what she wanted. She didn't speak English so her grandson got to translate her special message to me.
There was the family who bought their fast food lunch in the mall and then set up their picnic on the (until that moment) lovely display in front of our department.
There was the customer who asked "Are these sunglasses guaranteed?" and the exasperated salesperson (
me) who replied, "Guaranteed to do what?"
So extra good wishes to all of you serving in the trenches of retail this time of year.
