By Popular Demand: More Tales from Retail Hell
Look, I like to help people. And I get that some people need a little hand-holding with their knitting. But jeez, it drives me up the wall when someone wastes fifteen minutes of my time simply because they cannot be BOTHERED reading the pattern that’s in front of them. They see something new, and they just immediately shut down without even following the instructions. I just had my second person in here in as many weeks trying to do short rows, and they both had the same problem: They’re functionally illiterate. I get that short rows are a little weird to get your head around, which is why most patterns (especially easier ones like Patons and Cleckheaton) spell out exactly what you have to do in excruciating detail. “Note: When turning, move yarn to front between needles, slip next stitch from left-hand needle to right-hand needle, move yarn to back between needles, slip stitch back from right-hand needle to left-hand needle.” Yeah, it’s wordy, but it’s all RIGHT THERE. You can give it a try. With this woman just now, I ended up having to stand over her shoulder and read it out to her while she did exactly what I said. “Oh, so that’s how you do it.” Yeah, you just DO EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS. What’s so freaking difficult about that? Harrumph.
Tales from Retail Hell
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3 responses
Talented readers observer. Just a tiny little wish and then everything succeed 😉
I agree, but with two caveat – sometimes it’s easier to listen&do rather than read&do. Especially with the wordier things. Which is just a long way of saying the customer could’ve asked anyone to read the instructions to her. Or, it just seemed the wordiness was ‘too obvious’ and she thought there was some hidden step there ready to mess her up big time. (All that text just to move the yarn forward and back? It *can’t* be THAT simple.)
Eh, sometimes the person really does have the “Seriously? That really is all I have to do?” attitude, and that’s awesome. But this woman wasn’t questioning whether what she was doing was really correct. Instead she saw something new on the paper, and COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. She didn’t even try. And even after I’d shown her, she kept insisting that she might forget by the time she got home. And I kept insisting that all she’d have to do is, you know, READ THE PATTERN, and she kept blathering on like somehow I had this magical ability to read invisible coded messages or something. There’s also this element of needing approval, which even when I notice it within myself, still seems desperate and pathetic. Knitting knowledge does not have to be handed on from on high. You don’t always have to have an Officially Sanctioned Knitting Shop Employee to hand-hold you. (This goes doubly – no, TRIPLY – for the ones who can’t even pick out a colour without whining for my help.) I hate to come off all schoolmarmish, but I’m much more inclined to help someone who’s made even the slightest attempt on their own.