I sold shoes at a big deparment store for four years.
The scars have still not healed.
Oh sure, there were some good times. I got good commission for a while when I worked full time and…well, that was about it. When I moved across the state to attend graduate school, I became part time and the money vanished, so there was no upside whatsoever.
How many former or current shoe salesmen or saleswomen are on the boards? And what’s your best/worst story of your prison time?
Mine is this: On Christmas Eve, near closing time, a short, squat man with a white beard and glasses (he looked a lot like Santa Claus, only not as big…and the beard wasn’t as long) came in looking for some Reebok hightops. It was a popular item…my co-worker and I had looked for the shoe about 10-15 times already that evening, and we were aware what sizes were remaining. The man grabbed the shoe off the rack and wandered over to us.
“You got these in a size 11?” he asked nicely enough.
My co-worker (I’ll call him CW from here out) said, “No sir. Only thing left are size 8 1/2.”
Man: “Aren’t you even going to check?” the man said…voice rising.
CW: “Sir, I’ve checked on that shoe about 10 times tonight. It’s very popular. We’ve sold out of everything except two pairs of size 8 1/2.”
The man looked stunned. He checked the display shoe. He looked all over for the size but he didn’t see it.
Man: “What about this one? What size is it?”
CW: “That’s the display. It’s an 8 1/2.”
Man: “Well, goddamn. This would be a great fking place to build a fking shoe store, don’t you think?”
This last bit was shouted, and people all around the department turned to stare. My CW laughed nervously as did I.
Man: “You think this is f*king funny, you fks?”
CW: “Sir, we’re not laughing at you, we are laughing with you.”
Well, that was it. The man cocked his arm back and threw the shoe at my CW. It was a hard line drive, but it was a telegraphed move, and my CW caught the shoe easily. All commotion stopped in our busy department. The man shrieked a “F**k both of you!” and walked into the aisle where his wife stood with her head down and her hands in her pocket. They walked off toward the exit.
Now here’s the funny part. I couldn’t believe that my slick CW was going to let this guy off the hook. They were getting away! And everyone was looking at us! We couldn’t let it end this way. I stepped out from behind the desk and called to him…“Sir? Excuse me, sir?”
He turned around.
I said, in my cheesiest and most pathetic Tiny Tim voice, “Merry Christmas, sir!” I offered him a feeble wave and a smile.
I thought it might deflate him, make him realize the error of his ways, make his heart melt and everyone around us would cheer as the heavens opened up etc…
But he flipped me off and said, “Fk you, you little cksucker!”
Anyone else have any great run-ins with customers?
And it goes both ways of course (I know from experience that shoe salesmen can be surly). Does anyone have any horrible experiences buying shoes? Any pleasurable experiences on either side of the fence will also be appreciated.