for my father. He needs it for waxing something or other out in the shed. I promised to get one when I went to the Post Office. Easy!
The supermarket was out of candles. Yes, they were planning to get more but they did not know when. The newsagent had one but it was a red one, left over from Christmas. As it was also $5.99 I left it there.
Then I tried our local version of one of those cheap "reject" type shops. They had pink, silver and a green that was (supposedly) scented like pine.
While I was in there two elegant women in shalwar kameez came in. This is still an unusual sight in our area. As there was no shop assistant in sight they approached another well dressed woman obviously looking for help. I will not repeat what she said to them. Suffice to say it was rude in the extreme.
I was close enough by then so I said, "I'll be happy to help if I can. What were you looking for?"
They wanted elastic. They had been to the charity shop believing it to be a habydashery store and been sent on here. I showed them where to find the haberdashery section and they thanked me politely. I went on my way, still without a candle.
I was about to pedal home when I remembered that I had promised to stop at the charity shop as well.
There on the counter was a small, white candle still in cellophane wrapping. I did what needed to be done. Then I handed over 50c and went home with the candle.
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4 comments:
Hi
I'm alwayw being mistaken for the shop girl! LOL! But I'd never be so rude and unhelpful!
Well done you! Kindness always goes a long way as that rude woman will never know.
Great you got your candle in a lovely place too.
Take care
x
Well yes, my father is very happy with the candle. Apparently it fixed the problem.
Cat: years ago I heard shop assistants et al being rude and dismissive to Japanesse tourists on the Gold Coast. Later, I heard that the GC was concerned about the drop in Japanese tourism, and I wasn't surprised a bit.
That rude woman was, whether she knew it or not, shaping the community that she, and her descendents if any, are going to live in.
Did you want to go over and shake her?
Had a similar experience in the post office myself. An elderly "gentleman" was complaining rather rudely about a discrepancy in his mail redirection. The post master was explaining which part of the form the gentleman (rather his wife as it turned out) should have filled out and pointing out which part had in actual fact been filled out. The gentleman said something like "look here, I am a native English speaker and I read this as..."
I couldn't believe my ears. The post master was too polite to say anything but I congratulated him right there on his patience and said I doubted I could have the same courtesy when presented with such rudeness.
And it's so common it's easy to miss for most.
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