I finally finished G’s cap! On the Vernal Equinox, no less, just in time for warmer weather (we hope). Groan. At least he’ll have it for next year. 1.5 skeins Blue Sky Alpacas Sportweight, colorway 308 (I don’t think it’s available anymore, I totally scored two returned skeins at Flying Fingers), pattern is Whimsical Hats by Linda Niemeyer. Here it is, with him in it:
The High And Mighty Container Store (TCS) has dropped off the top ten of Forbes’ Top 100 Companies To Work For List. They are now at number twenty, down from number four last year and way down from the lofty height of number one a few years back. They can no longer claim Top Ten status. I predicted this downfall back when I worked there and some genius came up with what I now refer to as The Blue Bracelet Debacle.
You remember the yellow silicone Livestrong bracelets that Lance Armstrong made so popular so many years ago? Someone used that inspirational vehicle to create a potentially destructive atmosphere at the employee level. They made the same bracelets, in TCS blue, with the words “FRONT AND STRAIGHTEN” on them. The idea was this: you put the bracelet on your right wrist. If you walked by an item that was not “fronted and/or straightened,” (brought to the front of the shelf so that it “kissed the lip”) and did not stop to front and straighten it yourself, and a coworker saw you commit this heinous crime, they were supposed to tell you to switch your bracelet. You then changed the bracelet to your left wrist. If you had your bracelet on your right wrist for less than 21 days, you would be spoken to and written up.
I am so not lying about this. I still have the bracelet, as a reminder whenever I hearken back to the days of great pay (for retail), that I must not go back. Not on my life.
I was talking to a customer yesterday (whose boyfriend ended up buying her an aquamarine and diamond promise ring from me AND got approved for credit AND bought the Jewelry Service Plan) who is a freelance (right now) facialist and makeup artist (her makeup was perfect, natch). I told her how I wish I knew better how to put makeup on, and she said that my makeup looked great. I only had eyeliner on (Laura Mercier, Special Brown), not even mascara or shadow. She said, “No blush?” Nope, my cheeks are just naturally rosy. I told her that I do own the shu uemura eyelash curler (”Because it’s the best!” we both said in unison) and Fiber Xtension mascara, and I’d been recently been using Fiberwig mascara from Japan. “So you do know about makeup!” Yeah, but I’m not great at applying it. I think this is a skill that ought to be taught in Home Ec (do they even teach Home Ec anymore?), along with balancing your checkbook and managing your money. She gave me the following tip: When you want a more natural look for your eyelashes than even the shu uemura eyelash curler can give you, have your blowdryer at the ready when you apply one eye’s worth of mascara. Using the cool setting, blow up from underneath. This will lift and separate your lashes in a beautiful, gentle curve. I tried it this morning with delightful results! (G didn’t notice a difference when pressed; he said that he doesn’t notice my eyelashes, he’s captivated by my warm, chocolate brown eyes. Nice save!)
I lost a potential sale today, to a couple who ended up buying their crappy engagement ring across the hall. She said that she liked marquise cuts (I don’t) and yellow gold (hmm, not for me either). I showed her the few pieces we had, but they didn’t bite. They were looking for .75 carats, and only .75 carats. I showed them a perfectly acceptable .63 carat stone, D/E in color (D is perfect, completely colorless, and the D-F range is all considered colorless), SI1 in clarity (small inclusions). Also a .50 carat stone, G/H color (near colorless), VS2 clarity (very small inclusions, visible only under a 10X loupe, if you know what you’re looking for). Too small, not interested. For emphasis’ sake, I showed them the 1.03 carat stone, E/F color, VS2 clarity (way out of their price range, topping $10k). They seemed set on the damn size. I told them that I could get that size in, and set in yellow gold. They left, with the rings I showed them detailed on my business card.
They proceeded across the hall, and left with a bag. My boss went out for a smoke with the manager from across the hall. Turns out they found their .75 carat stone, albeit J/K color, I2 clarity (yellow, with inclusions visible to the naked eye). Garbage. For $799. For Pete’s sake, people, I thought, when will you learn? You can’t sacrifice quality for size!
I got home, after bringing in only about $200 for the day, annoyed. I talked with G about it, and settled on the fact that I am a snob. An arrogant snob. I feel like it is my sworn duty to educate the great unwashed. Bring them around to my way of thinking. No it is not. It is my job to sell them what they want, and to try to squeeze every thin dime out of them while doing it. If they learn something from me in the process, great, but I should not put my opinion on them. I need to be more enthusiastic about what they are asking me for, not what I think they should want. Think about them as if they were all anti-choice believers, G said. Would you want them putting their beliefs on you? DO NOT WANT.
So I believe that tomorrow will be a better, easier day for me. I don’t feel disheartened by this, actually, rather relieved. Because convincing people of things they don’t want to hear has never been my strong suit. Convincing them when they are halfway to my side? That’s easy. I just have to find the way to push them into buying what they came in for, hopefully a little more, or a lot more, and all the add-ons I can manage. Push the damn credit applications, and the freaking jewelry service plans. These people are coming in to be sold to, not to learn. So what if they don’t care about quality? It doesn’t reflect poorly on me if I sell them a piece of shit, it reflects poorly on them for not having the sense to not buy the damn thing. If it makes them happy, then let them be. Do my freaking job, and do it better than anyone there. That’s where the quality has to come in, in doing my job.
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Edited because I was taught not to “yuck” other people’s taste. I don’t do it with food, and I shouldn’t do it anywhere else.
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On this day:
