the pop-back - final sale nerves

Tuesday…
source: gizmodo.com
I check the screen between meetings
There couldn't be many left.
I should order right now, time is fleeting,
I could wait but I might be bereft...

Someone's assistant hands me a post-it -
someone else is stuck in traffic -
why do I dither? I've diagnosed it:
final sale worries, poor fit and sad service
are some of the things that are making me nervous
 and detached from the targeted demographic.
Corridor, iPhone, click, click, click. They thank me, they're grateful.
They confirm within hours:
Yes, that's the order, it's been released.
but I still don't know if I'll get it.
I seem to have given these folks unknown powers
as if their indifference were somehow fateful.
source: an email someone sent me
if the shippers hurry, I could be at peace,
and know if I love it or if I regret it.

People get the strangest gifts from me:
don't get me wrong, I return the defective,
the mis-sized, the soiled, the broken, the used,
the skirt with a faded streak on the tummy.
But sometimes I have to step back, be objective:
Who would like this? Whose dream am I holding?
Whose sweet little face would with joy be suffused?
Whose fashion sense could I be molding?

That's why baby sisters were invented, of course she'd love a not-quite-flannel shirt!


11 comments:

  1. A good reason to regret missing out on a baby sister.

    My test is always if you'd feel relieved or not when you finally get ready to check out and find the item sold out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. an excellent test, tr, that feeling of mingled regret and relief, and come to think of it, not just in the context of shopping!

      Delete
  2. This explains why I never snag anything. Not quick enough reflexes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sadly, that condition can only be cured by practice and exercise.

      seriously, my decision-making abilities were honed by trips to Loehmann's in the days when everything was final sale.

      Delete
  3. What a great post! I (hanging head) identify all too well. I would add - knowing all local JC numbers by heart to check an item on markdown day, and silently calculating if I have time to run out on my lunch break!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi, KnitYarns! I stopped calling stores after the person who answered the phone at the Short Hills store told me that the store had my item, but for security reasons would not charge-send it to me, on my JC card, to the billing address on the card, for "security reasons." Humph.

      and the verse was getting kinda long anyway.

      Delete
    2. That is madness, and never too long WFF wit!

      Delete

As Alice Roosevelt Longworth said, if you've got anything bad to say, sit next to me! No, really, please remember to be kind, and don't say anything fred's mother would not approve of (Diner's mom didn't approve of anything. Including fred.)
Wellfedfred and the Whining Diner reserve the right to edit or delete any comments submitted to this blog without notice if we find:
1. Comments deemed to be spam or questionable spam
2. Comments including profanity or objectionable language
3. Comments containing concepts that could be deemed offensive
4. Comments that attack a person individually
and since there's been a flood of spam lately, we're trying the Robot thing to see if we can block some spam...