I Don't Tolerate Fools Lightly, Or Why I Shouldn't Be Working Retail

So, today in my store email account, I got a small, unsigned missive from a dissatisfied customer. Now, that's really not that rare, I get at least one a year. This one followed the normal standard - complaining about how rude I was, giving no real details of the transaction, adding no signature to the short note, and as always, telling me that she was a long-term customer who had spent lots of money at my shop. Le sigh ... le sigh.

Le sigh. Do I care? Well...not really and here's why...

Let me establish right off the top that I actually know what I'm talking about when it comes to my products, how they are used, and what is possible to accomplish with them. I've been doing this for 27 years of retail and an additional 15+ years of working with these items, so yes - I'll put my 40+ years of working with beads and leather up against your 'experience' any day. My problem is only one - I don't suffer fools gladly.

This just about says it all...

This is why I don't teach any more. I don't have the capacity to explain something again and again and yet again to the same person and watch them making the same mistake time and time again. I have to figure that there's something in me that attracts bright, talented and fabulously fascinating people in my areas of craft, because they've gathered around me and pulled me into a variety of events throughout my life, even though I am not much of a team player. But I am impatient as an instructor, recognize that in myself, and no longer teach even though I have people who have told me they would take any class I decided to hold.

I do love George Carlin.

I'm afraid I was a bit snarky to this woman, and I'm saying woman because 90%+ of my customers are female. I read through her complaint, told her that without more information about when she was in or her transaction/what she had asked, we certainly couldn't address her complaint, and then I was a bit mean. Or not. You can decide...

Sometimes you just have to think "Really? REALLY?"

Her final words on her email were "Lady, you are a wack job who needs counselling." I'm afraid I signed off with a small instructional: "Oh, and  'wack' is missing an 'H' and 'counselling' is spelled with a single 'L'." Do I feel at all guilty about losing this particular customer? No - not really. In fact, where some complaint letters really burn me, this one just made me laugh. I'm sure I'm better off without her. Dollars aren't everything.

I doubt I'm going to change now. I'm embracing my inner bitch instead. 

My fabulous Denver Broncos won last night and will face San Diego on Thursday, so I'm smiling this morning despite fools. Have a great Monday all. I promise I'll be more uplifting tomorrow...or maybe not... LOL.