Paula O's Profile

What a lovely topic and with such wonderful examples. Thank you!

I'm surprised by some of the comments suggesting this store owner should be not be commented about by those he treated badly. I too have worked with the public for years, and sure, there are some customers who behave poorly. But there is really no excuse for a shop owner to yell maniacally at a customer (me, yesterday) for touching a tablecloth. Who would not touch a tablecloth before buying it? I happened to be looking for a price tag, but seriously, if you sell textiles, you can't expect people not to touch them. To add to the surreality of the situation, after I apologized he ranted about how there were signs clearly indicating they were not to be touched. I looked around and saw no sign. The two people with me looked around and saw no sign either. I asked him where the signs were, thinking I had overlooked them, and he began pointed at the tablecloths hanging on the wall yelling "Here!" and "Here!" and yet there were no signs. I said, "Where?" and all he could do was keep pointing at the tablecloths on the wall, yelling "Here!" There were NO signs on the wall. I asked him, "Do you always treat your customers this way?" but by then he was storming off to the back of the store. I truly don't understand how this man stays in business, except that judging by some of the comments further up, he can turn on the charm when he wants to. A woman who was shopping in the store at the same time yesterday and witnessed the scene hurried out behind us and said, "What a rude man! I will never buy anything from him!" My sentiments exactly. And if he thinks he has a right to treat people that way, then I think we have a right to write about it. His attitude is a awful blemish to my otherwise lovely neighborhood.