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The night before last, I was up all night with bad insomnia; didn’t get a bit of sleep. Had a job interview in the morning, went to pick up my glasses and had to send them back because one lens was badly distorted, just one darned thing after another. Then the MOD called, begging me to come in for a closing shift even though I wasn’t scheduled, so I, being the softhearted fool I am, did. In hindsight, that was a huge mistake, to put it mildly. When I got there, there was a humongous mountain of fabric behind the cutting counter, with slightly smaller hills on each of the two side tables. And it got worse.
It was me and a new girl on the cutting counter, and two cashiers. We were mobbed with people buying fabric for costumes. Of course, people were grousing about the wait, like it’s such a surprise that the fabric store was busy right before Halloween.
Several folks walked out. One man wanted to know why he couldn’t just buy the whole bolt. Um, because it’s not a whole bolt, it’s been cut from several times and it obviously doesn’t have the amount listed on the label! I ended up measuring his fabric and explained that it was (approximately) the same principle as buying paint at a hardware store: you can’t just grab a can of paint, pay for it, and expect it to be just how you want it, you have to stand in line at the paint counter to get the paint tinted and mixed properly, which does take time, then you take it to the register to pay for it. He seemed to understand after that.
Most folks only had one or two bolts, so they went fairly quickly. Then the next number I called, a woman with an entire cart of quilting fabrics came up! She wanted to restock her quilting stash and use the 30% off entire purchase card she got last week. Which is all well and good, but that card is good until November 1, and I’m quite sure the store will be much quieter then. Luckily, she was a nice lady and very patient.
I wish more people had been as understanding as her. We had folks wanting to buy upholstery fabric, which comes in long rolls that have to be cut on the big table, which was heaped high with fabric bolts and would take far too long to clear off, so we had to cut it on the regular table. Ever try cutting a 54” wide fabric on a 36” wide table? Not fun. And why the hell were they buying upholstery fabric the day before Halloween? They should’ve waited two more days; I can almost guarantee that November 1st, the store will be nearly empty. And of course, there was a constant undercurrent of customers grumbling that there wasn’t enough help (that’s corporate’s fault, not ours!), that we’re going too slowly (what, you think we should just slash through the fabric like Wolverine?!) that there’s too many people in the store (well, duh!), etc.
[sidenote: I have a theory about the inverse ratio between the ability of a costume maker and the complexity of the costume plus the amount of time left to make it. (I theorized that an expert costume-maker would make a simple toga in September, while someone who had never sewn before would attempt a Marie Antoinette costume on October 30th.) They also have no damn idea about the type of fabric to get. They want something metallic and shiny, so they grab the first bolt of fabric they see, $16.99 metallic lycra swimsuit material, then are absolutely gobsmacked about the price. Seriously, start planning your costume at least by September, we’re a lot less frazzled and could more easily help you find what you need, more workable fabric at a better price and we’ll both be much happier about it.]
One customer wasn’t buying fabric at the time, but came up to me while I was in the middle of cutting another customer’s fabric and asked me about fabric glue. Obviously I couldn’t help her immediately, and called for assistance over the headset. Naturally, the customer took umbrage over the fact that I wouldn’t drop everything and help her that instant, and obviously I’m incompetent and don’t know what I’m doing.
More and more customers came through, the fabric piled higher and higher because we had no time at all to put anything away, my cutting hand and my feet were absolutely killing me and sweat was pouring off of me. More complaints about the waiting times, how unfair the take-a-number system is, etc. My manager was making announcements about the upcoming closing time over the loudspeaker, and while she did her best to hide it, I could hear her voice getting more and more frantic. When 9:00 came around, she cashiered while the other cashier guarded the door to keep more people from coming in.
We finally got the last customer out the door at 9:40. We had to deal with Mount St. Fabric at the cutting counter, not to mention the massive heap of trims under the cutting counter and the countless go-backs at the registers. The whole store was a disaster, with several shelves capsized and their fabric piled up on the floor, loads more fabric bolts in the wrong places, garbage everywhere and filthy floors. There is no way in heaven or hell that four people can get all that mess cleaned up in twenty minutes; we were actually in the store until 10:30 trying to clean up, we put away several cartloads of fabric, but still had far too many more to go. We were all exhausted, did the best we could, and had to leave the rest for the opening crew, whom I’m quite sure have cursed us to Kingdom Come.
I ended the night aching, stiff, reeking of sweat and about ready to cry. More than once, I considered walking out, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave my coworkers in the lurch. Truly, even Black Friday wasn’t this bad. I hope to never, ever have another day like this again.
It was me and a new girl on the cutting counter, and two cashiers. We were mobbed with people buying fabric for costumes. Of course, people were grousing about the wait, like it’s such a surprise that the fabric store was busy right before Halloween.
Several folks walked out. One man wanted to know why he couldn’t just buy the whole bolt. Um, because it’s not a whole bolt, it’s been cut from several times and it obviously doesn’t have the amount listed on the label! I ended up measuring his fabric and explained that it was (approximately) the same principle as buying paint at a hardware store: you can’t just grab a can of paint, pay for it, and expect it to be just how you want it, you have to stand in line at the paint counter to get the paint tinted and mixed properly, which does take time, then you take it to the register to pay for it. He seemed to understand after that.Most folks only had one or two bolts, so they went fairly quickly. Then the next number I called, a woman with an entire cart of quilting fabrics came up! She wanted to restock her quilting stash and use the 30% off entire purchase card she got last week. Which is all well and good, but that card is good until November 1, and I’m quite sure the store will be much quieter then. Luckily, she was a nice lady and very patient.
I wish more people had been as understanding as her. We had folks wanting to buy upholstery fabric, which comes in long rolls that have to be cut on the big table, which was heaped high with fabric bolts and would take far too long to clear off, so we had to cut it on the regular table. Ever try cutting a 54” wide fabric on a 36” wide table? Not fun. And why the hell were they buying upholstery fabric the day before Halloween? They should’ve waited two more days; I can almost guarantee that November 1st, the store will be nearly empty. And of course, there was a constant undercurrent of customers grumbling that there wasn’t enough help (that’s corporate’s fault, not ours!), that we’re going too slowly (what, you think we should just slash through the fabric like Wolverine?!) that there’s too many people in the store (well, duh!), etc.
[sidenote: I have a theory about the inverse ratio between the ability of a costume maker and the complexity of the costume plus the amount of time left to make it. (I theorized that an expert costume-maker would make a simple toga in September, while someone who had never sewn before would attempt a Marie Antoinette costume on October 30th.) They also have no damn idea about the type of fabric to get. They want something metallic and shiny, so they grab the first bolt of fabric they see, $16.99 metallic lycra swimsuit material, then are absolutely gobsmacked about the price. Seriously, start planning your costume at least by September, we’re a lot less frazzled and could more easily help you find what you need, more workable fabric at a better price and we’ll both be much happier about it.]
One customer wasn’t buying fabric at the time, but came up to me while I was in the middle of cutting another customer’s fabric and asked me about fabric glue. Obviously I couldn’t help her immediately, and called for assistance over the headset. Naturally, the customer took umbrage over the fact that I wouldn’t drop everything and help her that instant, and obviously I’m incompetent and don’t know what I’m doing.
More and more customers came through, the fabric piled higher and higher because we had no time at all to put anything away, my cutting hand and my feet were absolutely killing me and sweat was pouring off of me. More complaints about the waiting times, how unfair the take-a-number system is, etc. My manager was making announcements about the upcoming closing time over the loudspeaker, and while she did her best to hide it, I could hear her voice getting more and more frantic. When 9:00 came around, she cashiered while the other cashier guarded the door to keep more people from coming in.
We finally got the last customer out the door at 9:40. We had to deal with Mount St. Fabric at the cutting counter, not to mention the massive heap of trims under the cutting counter and the countless go-backs at the registers. The whole store was a disaster, with several shelves capsized and their fabric piled up on the floor, loads more fabric bolts in the wrong places, garbage everywhere and filthy floors. There is no way in heaven or hell that four people can get all that mess cleaned up in twenty minutes; we were actually in the store until 10:30 trying to clean up, we put away several cartloads of fabric, but still had far too many more to go. We were all exhausted, did the best we could, and had to leave the rest for the opening crew, whom I’m quite sure have cursed us to Kingdom Come.
I ended the night aching, stiff, reeking of sweat and about ready to cry. More than once, I considered walking out, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave my coworkers in the lurch. Truly, even Black Friday wasn’t this bad. I hope to never, ever have another day like this again.
I will never understand why people deliberately shop on certain days, unless forced to. From now until after New Years, nearly all my non-grocery shopping will be online. I will grocery shop early in the morning or late at night only, and not step foot in the mall or Costco. For my own sanity. 
Meaning, "deal with it/stop bugging us" ?
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