The Diary of a Shop Attendant: Chapter 2

This past weekend an elderly lady came into the store and successfully slid a sly one past us, well actually not me, my co-worker. The woman was all frazzled because she drove 25 miles to get to the store in time and realized she was three days past her return date. My co-worker bought her frazzled, traffic, driving, old lady story and let her exchange the bag for a different one. Apparently the one she wanted to return has been ‘sitting’ on her shelf and just isn’t right for her. At this point I am avoiding the return situation since no one has taught me how to do returns this really isn’t my problem.

Well, on Monday, a shipment of bags comes in and the manager is putting them out on the floor and rearranging the displays. While I am helping a customer my boss whispers in my ear to go in the back when I have a second and see what I find in the inside pocket of a purse she has just set back there. I am of course nervous and assume whatever I find will be alive. That is not the case. I quickly walk to the back because impatient me can’t wait to see what is there and look what I find:

If you are still staring and not sure what that is….. there are THREE sanitary napkins inside the purse. SICK. NASTY. That happens to be the exact purse the frantic old lady returned over the weekend. There are so many things wrong with this picture it is not even funny. First of all, frantic old lady is a liar because clearly she used the purse. Why does such an old lady have maxi pads (sick, the word of the post)? How did my co-worker that accepted the return not find them? Keep in mind next to the maxi pads is the price tag that my co-worker PUT INSIDE THE BAG.

A few lessons to take home from this lovely tale: 1. Empty all pockets of a purse when you decide to return it after you have already worn it, and 2. Check inside all the pockets before you buy it. No one wants a “gift with purchase.”

Until next time.

xoxo mel

The diary of a shop attendant: LA style

For those of you that do not know me well, I love jewelry and have worked at the most wonderful, amazing, fabulous store, Chardé, in Houston. I have been ever so fortunate to find the Santa Monica equivalent of Chardé and somehow convinced them to hire me. So far it looks like that is all a UT Finance degree will get me. The store is nestled between a celeb bustling restaurant and a cute boutique on a beautiful street near the beach (duh!). I have been working there for 2 weeks now, and have already had a plethora of celebrity sightings. Ok, well actually only three, but those were in two days, so that is really like six.

Celebrity sighting #1: Kyra Sedgwick

The dashing (and skinny) Kyra came into the shop last Saturday. The store was fairly busy and I was helping several people at once. Kyra was just walking around the store looking at all the baubles. Finally I had time to help her, and we instantly became best friends. She bought a Turkish evil eye necklace, which I recently purchased from Chardé, and two gold cuff bracelets. When I was showing her one piece, she says, “Oh, you’re good.” Should I send my boss a link to my blog? (probably not). I must admit though, after she left the store I had to ask a co-worker who she was. I knew she was famous, but I could not place her. Whoops.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ms. Sedgwick, maybe this rings a bell:

Her husband is Kevin Bacon. So basically I am Kevin Bacon’s best friend. That’s right. Really that makes like seven sightings now. Yes! :)

Celebrity sighting #2 & #3: Arnold Swartzenager and Maria Shriver

Now this was a real true sighting because I recognized them! And no, the secret service following them around was not how I figured it out. Maria was maybe not the sweetest person in the whole world. She walked into the store, grabbed a purse off the wall and said loudly in my direction, “Mam, what is this?” I walked up to her and responded, “It’s a bag?” Maria said, “Yes, but what kind of bag? It has a rectangular shape?” "U’mmm really….,” I’m thinking, however instead kindly repled, “It’s a tote bag.” In the mean time Arnold is talking very loudly to who I presume is his nephew. A few Asian tourists walk in off the street and pretend to be looking at some purses and awkwardly stare at the Govenator. Maria sadly did not purchase the $165 tote bag. I guess she was looking for a beach bag, or perhaps even a bucket purse? Who knows. That sighting definitely made the day go by faster, but I was very disappointed in Ms. Shriver’s tude. Maybe she had a rough morning. I will give her that.

To clear up any confusion, here is a picture of a tote bag, in my professional shop attendant opinion.

Stay tuned for more celeb sightings from a shop attendant.

xoxo mel