I’ll Make It Fit
My friend Dee was shopping this weekend.
She happened upon a customer who was showing the saleslady a dress.
“I love this dress,” the customer said, “but it’s a size six.” Do you by any chance have this in a twelve?”
Dee didn’t tell me what the saleslady answered, but I can fill in the blank – because I know for sure what she said (knowing just how helpful the salespeople are in that particular store).
The saleslady answered, “Check the rack. If it’s there, we have it. If it’s not there, we don’t have it.”
(Am I right or what?)
Anyhow, this dress was lovely. Dee could just picture herself in this dress.
So she approached the lady – who was still holding the dress, and said,
“If it’s not your size… gee, I’d love to try that on.”
And this complete stranger said,
“IT’S A SIZE SIX, NOT A SIXTEEN.”
Dee was furious. Righteous Fury!
She grabbed that the dress and stomped into the dressing room. She tried it on. It fit, but it was a bit snug. Dee is a rather modest woman, and she knew she’d be more comfortable with an eight, so she passed. But it was close – a hell of a lot closer to a six that the RUDE SIZE TWELVE (probably really a fourteen) CUSTOMER.
On hearing this story, I was as outraged as Dee.
And I admired her self-control in not punching that snotty bitch in the teeth.
Although I do think I would have handled it differently:
**
I’D HAVE BOUGHT THE GODDAMN DRESS!
**
Me (size 10) – So There!
notquiteold 
I would have tried it on. Flexed every muscle I had….pushed out my gut until the dress ripped. Then go find the salesperson and tell her that when trying it on I noticed some flaws in the material.
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Certainly that was a rude response, but I find it just as troubling that the mere mention of size 16 is taken as an insult.
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The insult was a perfect stranger saying my friend was too fat for the dress!
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Cat fight!
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I think I would have bought it and arguably worn it with either three pairs of Spanx – or taken it to a tailor to let out the seams a bit. But with such a bitch for a sales person I might have walked out and never given the sales person a commission. And in my more inflamed fantasy I would have had a word or two for the nasty customer as well (but I can’t think of it right now :-))…
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Snotty bitch indeed!
I do not understand such nastiness.
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WOW! That is INSANE. It sounds like this woman should get a job at that store, though, LOL And here I thought it was bad when I went to Talbots last year and the saleswoman approached me and said I might have better luck checking out their new ‘curvy’ line of jeans…
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Ooohh, OUCH!
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I am SHOCKED at that rude stranger! I don’t know what I would have done in that situation but it wouldn’t have been what I wish I’d do…
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Why is it people feel entitled to express their every rude thought? Haven’t we all, those of us who still practice the social skills of politeness, been relieved there isn’t a thought bubble over our heads? Haven’t we all from time to time reined in our less appropriate inner dialogue?It ‘s as if people are losing the ability to self modulate their own behaviour.There would have been some curse words and possibly a curse written in my overhead bubble, but i probably would have left without giving the saleslady the satifisfaction of my discomfort.
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Beats me, Lori-Ann. I just know that incidents like this make me more and more misanthropic.
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I remember a program on BBC last year where a woman went about to shops and secretly recorded the behaviour of many shop clerks then took it to the head of the company… interesting! 🙂 Especially when it was on TV across the land and even over here.
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I bet the saleslady pissed off the customer who in turn took her wrath out on your friend. Rudeness is contagious and there are no shots or vaccine for it.
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Yup! Just like how kind behavior can emanate throughout a place, toxic behavior can spread too, unfortunately.
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Wow. Unbelievable. Karma’s a bitch though. You (the 12 really 14 lady) put that much negativity out there and it’ll come back to bite you in the backside.
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Ohmygosh! I’d have bought the thing, too.
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I would have bought the dress, too. I also would have announced loudly that it not only fit but was a little loose. And then I would have returned it the next day.
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Maybe she should have asked that customer if she had seen any size FOURS when she was looking at the dresses…
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Good one. Although, the customer might have asked her who she was shopping for!
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I’m sort of with BigSheep. It would have been really cool to respond in a way that totally defused the size-shaming intent by refusing to acknowledge it. You know, along the lines of, “Oh, gosh, thank you so much for your concern, but 16 doesn’t happen to be my size,” with a puzzled expression. I couldn’t pull this off, but I know some who could.
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Well and just one more proof that manners have flown out the window. The real issue is of course that this perfect stranger had a fun house mirror, looked at your size eight friend and saw a threat and went on the attack. The other even worse issue is we as women are defined by a number that isn’t our IQ.
I think the stranger needed to be Bitch Slapped into reality (not that I am advocating violence or anything). It is likely that size 12 she wanted would have fit her like a sausage casing.
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The more I think about, the more I wonder if that nasty customer wasn’t pissed off by my friend pointing out that she might be able to wear a size six. Doesn’t forgive her rudeness, but there are certain times when I resent skinny people too….
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Oh, wow, that customer sounds like a total bitch right there. Your friend does have admirable self-control. I would have certainly snapped that mofo off.
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This is another reason that sizes should become obsolete!
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Your blog always brightens my day and quite often makes me laugh out loud so I’ve nominated you for the Sunshine Award.
You can find out more about it here – http://goodoldgirl.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/somebody-gets-my-gibberish/
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Hi Nancy 🙂 I just wanted to let you know that even though I haven’t been on wordpress for quite some time, i still get all your posts via email and enjoy reading every one of them.
Thank you for making me smile!
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I agree it seems that rudeness is more common, and the snappy – equally rude – comeback has become perfectly acceptable. It’s a shame, in my opinion. I like the thought bubble idea, and will from now on picture my thoughts like that whenever I’m refraining from saying something out loud. All that aside, I loved this very funny story, and you did a great job telling it…Thank you!
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Whenever greeted unpleasantly by a woman, I smile my nicest smile and say “I’m sure your mother is very proud of you.” It kills them every time.
That or duct tape over the mouth, which is way more satisfying. What happened to being nice to folks?
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your picture – priceless!
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What a great post…I was just entertained by the story until I see all the comments about size perception and rudeness and self-control– see what you started?
Another consideration: hormones. If that woman had PMS or menopausal issues, Dee’s harmless question could have just set her off. That has happened to me, and boy was I embarrassed at my reaction when I settled down and realized my hormones had hijacked my mood. It’s no excuse–rude is rude– but it helps make sense when someone’s behavior seems so extreme.
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I usually ask a rude person, “Are you having a bad day?” Seems to calm them down and an apology usually follows.
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I would have plunked (is there such a word) my money down hard and bought the dam dress while looking the bitch right in the eyes. Then I would have returned it if it was a tad snug.
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i’ve just stumbled across your blog and had to tell you that I’ve just lost half an hour I can’t spare by reading through your posts – I couldn’t drag myself away! I can’t wait for the next post.
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