Thursday, August 5, 2010

The Blessed Shopper

I've never revealed this to anyone, but I have a tendency to be a bit of a "lucky leprechaun" when I shop. Things like finding the exact item I want is on sale when none of the other similar products are; or it's common for me to find the LAST item in stock; the list goes on.

Anyway, last night was a bit of a doozy! So, I went to a podiatrist and she said I HAD to buy new shoes (I know, quell disappointment, no?) and some orthotic inserts. I went to REI and I thought I had what I needed, but just before I was about to leave the sales guy (who had been helping someone else) came over and asked if I found what I needed. After talking with him, it turned out, I hadn't. This guy knew everything and he was awesome! Needless to say, he helped me find exactly what I needed and I've had the best day on my feet today EVER! Thank you REI Dave!

I know what you're thinking, that's not such a big deal, that was his job. But, wait! It gets even better. I went over to Dillard's (again, my podiatrist said so) to find some shoes and she even gave me some specific brands to look for. I love shoes*. The lady in the shoe department seemed annoyed with me at first, because she kept asking if I needed help and I said I was "just looking." She finally got the message and would just waft by occasionally to check on me. I try to be really nice to sales people, they have hard jobs and they deal with mean people a lot, so I always try to feel out how jovial I can be with someone; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time, it worked. So I started trying on some shoes and also tried to be happy with her and be slightly sarcastic (which I do REALLY well!) and she seemed to relax a little. I'll jump to the end: I ended up buying two pairs of shoes, for which she gave me two or three discounts, then gave me a bottle of Calvin Klein's Eternity for Men (not a sample, a whole freaking $100 size bottle!) for free, and two sketchers baseball caps (Mishka was with me), which were really nice! I was shocked! I actually gave her a hug and she said not to tell her husband! wink, wink!! :) Needless to say, she warmed up to me and even the manager came over and joined in on a couple of laughs. Talk about a "Lucky" shopping trip! I found the best shoes ever, and got tons of free stuff thrown at me!

In all reality, what it boils down to, ISN'T luck. It was being friendly to someone who had a long day. As we were getting ready to leave, the manager, who saw this lady giving me all this free stuff said, "it's nice to help people who are happy." Ultimately, it isn't all the free stuff that makes me feel good, it's knowing that I really made a difference in someone's day, just by being kind to them. My motivation was just to see her smile and I think that's why she gave me that stuff, she knew I was genuine and that I wasn't "angling" for anything. I remember when she gave me the cologne, and I asked her why, she said, in her thick Asian accent, "you're a good guy."

How cool is that? Maybe it's just my luck!

*I love shoes because I'm fat. i.e., unlike clothes, which never fit, I can always find shoes that fit, so I developed a taste for shoe shopping...

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