I fell asleep on the couch this afternoon. For more than an hour and a half. Then about 15 seconds after I wake up the muscle in the arch of my foot goes into massive cramp mode. (Have you ever had a cramp hurt so badly it itch?) Anyway, I woke up pretty fast as I tried to work the knot out of my foot.
I drove Lisa to work this morning and dropped her off and then ran some errands. Not as many as I would have liked because I got tired and came home. (Had lunch and then (see above))
I went into at least two stores this morning where I felt like the employees were watching me all the time, assuming I was going to slip something into my pocket or try to walk out with highly valuable item. I don't get that feeling in every place I happen to be, so I'm going to assume that I was being watched/ employee was breathing down my neck. I think that would be a funny situation: Watch out for the cancer patients, you can't trust them in stores! (You can tell which ones they are because they are the human equivalent of the naked mole rat; hairless, and willing to steal items you get paid minimum wage to guard!)
Anyway, I just felt a little miffed. At both places none of the employees asked if they could help me (I would have asked them for help since I didn't want to be there any longer than I had to be and was tired) they just continued to loom.
If you are at least going to loom, ask the person if they need any help first, then say something like, "I'll be right here pretending to organize this section if you need me." Smile and make a 45 degree turn while keeping the person in view, and start fluffing something. Retail gave me some schooling, while it was only Barnes and Noble I still like to refer to it as my "School of hard knocks". (Which might change to chemo after I am done now that I think about it...)
~B.
I wouldn't assume the salespeople knew you were a cancer patient. They knew you looked different, but unless they'd had experience with cancer through friend or relative, they may not have been able to put their finger on the "what" of what was different. Also, it was the middle of the day--they may not have had a lot to do and stalking seems to be the best option.
ReplyDeleteThere's that whole silly thing, too, of people feeling like someone who looks different might be contagious. Maybe they've watched too many X-Files! (No...that would be Beth and me...)
I'm glad you could be out, even if you did have to deal with less-than-understanding people. I think your sickness is teaching us all to be more compassionate.
Ben, you're so funny. we miss having you and your sense of humor around here. At least we get it remotely. :o)
ReplyDeleteAubrey