Annoying Eid Shoppers
With Eid comes joy, and part of the joy is in wearing new clothes. But shopping for these clothes can be an activity that puts a frown on even the most cheerful shopkeeper's face. They are caused by none other than annoying customers, only some of whom are mentioned below.
THE DISCOUNT HOUND
Some customers want the dress but are not willing to pay the price. Not the price mentioned on the price tag at least. They insist that you charge them a lower price because it's Eid, conveniently forgetting that Eid will also be celebrated by the shopkeepers and salespeople selling you the clothes. These customers are often heard saying to whoever is with them that they will go check out the clothes at the next store where better clothes might be found at a more reasonable price because they do not want to pay such a high price for the dress. But why they bargained for 40 minutes for a dress that doesn't meet their standards is a question the shopkeeper does not have the liberty to ask.
THE MODEL CUSTOMER
Don't let the name fool you into thinking that these customers are ideal in any way. Instead, these are the customers who were lured to your store after seeing an advertisement featuring a model. They want the exact same dress they saw on the model and nothing else. However, the difficult part begins when the shopkeeper produces the desired dress in front of the customer but the customer is convinced that that's not the dress they saw. Those who try on the dress show their dissatisfaction. "It's just not the same", they say. These customers seem to forget about all the other details of the print advertisement from the surroundings full of strategically placed objects to the accessories and makeup to complement the clothes on the model.
THE SULKY CHILDREN
These are the poor kids who have been dragged by their mothers and fathers into shops. As the name suggests, they are not happy to be there and the contrast between their mood and that of their parents is as sharp as the contrast between their school uniforms and the colourful clothes lining the shop's walls. It takes serious willpower to continue being nice to them but nothing can alleviate their pain. They sit, sulk and sometimes scowl when their parent's back is turned to them. However, it is not really clear whether these children will remember how miserable they felt having to come to a store straight from school when they step into adulthood and have children of their own.
THE PICKY ONES
These customers often look like they've smelled rotten flesh when you show them the dress they asked to see. They ask you to lay out dress after dress and inspect each one with the seriousness with which the way a chess player contemplates their next move in a serious match. They take about the same amount of time too, if not more, and their nose is crinkled almost throughout the whole time they've been in your shop. You don't know what they want and it seems that they don't really know either. All they know is that they can't find anything they like. If your shop doesn't have the dress they want, they valiantly but somewhat reluctantly continue their strenuous search for a dress that doesn't make them grimace.
THE BLABBERING BELLAS
They are usually a group of young people who have been allowed to hang out with friends without parental supervision for the first time or a group of parents hanging out together because their children are in school and still require parental supervision so they all gathered at a shop to have a good time. They talk all the way from the other side of the road they crossed to the shop where they continue to talk with each other while the shopkeeper tries to explain the qualities of each dress to them. They are also mostly window shoppers who will ask for your full attention but won't reciprocate it when you start talking. You get to hear all kinds of things from them ranging from which Hindi serial character's evil twin came back to what kind of doctor they want their child to be.
Matilda likes to pretend she is invisible and inconspicuous. Tell her that you can read right through her at matilda.tilda1234@gmail.com