Workin' Wednesday-It's The Effort That Counts...

My years of selling shoes were filled with great times and funny stories.  Whenever the holiday shopping season rolls around I can't help recalling one particular customers effort to buy his wife a pair of Haflinger slippers.  One could tell immmediately that this gentleman was not in the habit of shopping by his look of uncertainty as he entered the shoe store so cautiously.  His expression was a mix of please help me but don't "sell" me anxiousness.  I approached with tenderness and asked gently if there was something particular he was shopping for.  He blurted out..."I want to buy my wife a pair of them Haffle-dingers...do you have those here....she said you would." He looked a bit relieved to hear that I knew what he was talking about and I didn't have the heart to correct his pronunciation.  He wasn't the first guy to call them Haffle-dingers.

I asked him what size I should bring out.

He looked stunned.

Size?

It clearly had not crossed his mind that he might need to know what size he should buy.  Suddenly he smiled and with a flat hand gesture under his chin he exclaimed "She's 'bout yea tall".  While there is a loose correlation between height and foot size I couldn't make him the hero he wanted to be by guessing what her shoe size was based on her being about "yea tall".  I suggested that if possible he should return home and get a pair of shoes from her closet and bring them in to help determine what size to purchase. He thought that was a great plan and returned shortly with the shoes and a thrilling story of how he snuck the shoes out of her closet while she was napping.

I brought a selection of colors we had in her size and again he was stumped.  "They come in more than one color?!" he exclaimed as if there was some conspiracy against him making a simple purchase.  He asked me to choose the color and ring him up quick-like since he had to get her shoes back in her closet before she woke up. I turned the shopping bag inside out so if she happened to be awake upon his return, she wouldn't know where he'd been.  He thanked me and wished me happy holidays.

While this sounds like a shopping fiasco I can't help but love the gesture.  It is not in the gift but in the giving that we see love and I hope he told her about his heroic efforts as she slipped her feet into those warm cozy Haffle-dingers(Haflingers).

love and giving,

abigail dagmar

Comments

[Daisy]

This made me laugh - thanks for the lovely holiday story ;)

[Dagmar]

I am glad to share some holiday cheer and wish you lots 'o laughter always!