Trying to Help

She was one of those customers who I knew was going to be a bit more....work -aka one that would need a lot of help- when she walked in the door.

It was a grandmotherly lady. Who hobbled into the store one slow step at a time using two different canes to keep her steady.

Now some grandmotherly ladies still insist that they can go and do and get all the things themselves.

This one? Not so much.

She looked like she wasn't going to make it another four feet into the store really.

and I happened to be right there.

So, reluctantly because my energy was flagging at this point with a headache pounding behind my eyes, I asked her if she needed any help.

The first thing she asked was if we had those electronic carts --I'm guessing the scootercarts that you'd find in the grocery stores and such.

We don't unfortunately. 

Really, corporate should probably look into getting one of those....along with seats for customers to sit on when they don't want to stand any more.

In any case.

She'd come into the store looking for a carrier for her cat.

and wanted to know how far away they were in the store so she would know if she could make it that far.

It was about halfway down to the soft sided cat carriers.....but the hardsided ones were all the way in the back against the back wall.

A distance I truly didn't think she could make.

She knew she couldn't either.

Stating that she was already tired and that usually has someone go shopping with her, she usually doesn't go by herself anymore because she's old and such but nobody was able to go with her today.

In any case.

She was looking for a carrier for her cat because she had bought one elsewhere, but it was too small and the place she'd been planning to buy her cat carrier at was closed today and she needed the carrier by Monday but the place she wanted to go to was closed that day too so she went somewhere else and then came here because she was thinking the one she'd gotten was too small. 

It was unclear on whether or not she wanted a hard or soft sided carrier.

So I offered to get her a chair and to bring products up to the front of the store so she could sit and rest and not overtax herself.

Which she agreed to.

So I grabbed the metal folding chair that we keep handy in the small room behind the fish wall.

-As my last Head Manager had decided it would be a good idea to have one of those handy for our older customers who needed to sit. 

Gave the woman the chair.

And then did my best to find the right cat carrier for her.

I grabbed a soft sided one, double checked the price, then headed to the back to grab a hard sided one, double checked the price and then bought the two options up to her. 

Were they bigger than the one she bought? No idea. I had no visual clue.

But after telling her prices and such.

and her dithering a bit about width because she wanted the carrier to be wider without being taller...

We decided to go for the hard-sided carrier which was $20. 

(Money didn't matter to her she just wanted the cat bed she bought to be able to fit inside.) 

So now it was a matter of getting the carrier and her up to the register....

It didn't happen.

She asked if I would be able to go up for her to buy the carrier.

Which I hesitantly agreed to.

And thankfully she pulled out cash instead of a credit card.

Cash is much easier to deal with than the card.

So I went up to the register.

Where my coworker was looking on in bemusement.

And had her ring it up.

The total came up to $21.36

The woman had handed me $40 because I didn't know how much tax was going to be added into it.

But knowing that she'd stated she had a couple of dollars.

I took one of the twenties back to her, and asked her if she had two dollars so I could spare her having more change in her purse.

-As she stated she didn't want more change but would deal with it.

She did have the $2. 

But was struggling to get it.

I could see the bills, but due to the receipts in her little wallet purse, I didn't think she could see them right away.

So being helpful I reached into the wallet to be like "here's those bills you wanted."

She jerked the wallet away and was like "I can find it myself thank you very much!" 

*winces*

*exhales*

Yah....I shouldn't....have done that.

I mean how many times do you get told "Never look in a woman's purse without permission?"

Yah....

I hadn't quite thought that one through. 

I mean, my mind was on "help the customer and help her quickly" and not on the "don't reaching into a purse that doesn't belong to you because it looks like you're stealing if the owner doesn't give permission" aspect to it.

I apologized.

Let her grab the $2

And then she was like "So what was the change, cus I have all this change."

So I was like...Oh it's $1.36 that you need so here's one dollar back.

"But I thought you needed two dollars?"

"No, if you have the change I only need one dollar and the thirty-six cents."

So after taking a while...and picking out the right coins from her hand when she held out a handful of change to me.

I finally returned to the register (which thankfully it was slow and there were no customers waiting at that point in time.) 

To give my coworker the exact amount, take the receipt and the carrier and return it to the customer.

I probably could have ended the interaction there.

But me.

I'm a helpful sort.

So I offered to help her out to her car.

As I doubted she could hold the carrier and both canes at the same time without there being trouble.

So I walked one slow step at a time out the doors with her. 

-Until she told me to go to her car and see if the carrier was smaller or the same size as the one she'd bought at the other store.

It ended up being just slightly wider by like .4" and an inch taller. 

But it did make all the difference.

The little cat bed she bought fit much easier in the carrier from my store rather than the one she'd gotten at the other place.

So overall she left happy. Woot!

And I'm really hoping that she forgets the whole "reaching into her purse" incident. 

Because it's been one of those 'cringeworthy' moments that's been running through my head all day and will most likely be one of those random things I remember four years from now and will keep me up all night. *exhales*

Ah well....live and learn...it ended up alright in the end. All good. All fine. Just gotta stop thinking about it. 

Until you next read these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi