Saturday, June 5, 2010

Pulling Off Some Julia Roberts

As you can see in my blogroll, Jamie's Daydream Believer is actually one of my favorite daily readings. Not only one of my favorites, but also one I highly recommend, if one's after intelligent well-written entertainment. And she posted a great story this week (read it here), very Pretty Woman like. Since I happen to have a  story of a similar sort, I asked her permission to go copycat on her and tell my own tale on my blog. Permission granted, so here we are! Thanks for the inspiration Jamie! This one is for you and all Vivian Wards everywhere!

I usually assume that everyone who lives on the planet and has access to cinema, television and dvd (and, well, in the past, vcr) has already seen Pretty Woman. Shame on those who haven't, really! Well, most of you must, therefore, be acquainted with the famous scene where Julia Roberts' character, Vivian Ward (age: unknown; profession: hooker) goes shopping on Rodeo Drive, and is snubbed by the saleswomen. A classic.

Well, I've never dressed like a hooker, thank you very much, but I sure as hell was treated like some cheap little thing at a store once.
I'd just come back from the gym, and decided to stop by the mall, since I needed some high heels for a gala party. I was wearing, you know, gym clothes, my hair in a ponytail, and an old backpack.
I entered this store that I knew to be good, and started looking around. As it turned out, the store had many shoes on sale that day. Everyone there was busy waiting on some customer, except for one saleswoman - who looked at me up and down and decided to ignore me. Fine by me, I hate their constant attention anyway.
I finally found a pair of shoes to my liking. I saw the price: they were far from cheap. I didn't care though, I had the money to pay for what I wanted. That's what I work for!
I grabbed the shoes and looked at the woman. She saw I was waiting for someone to wait on me, and she still wouldn't stir from her place. So I went up to her, smiling (for I usually make a point of being nice to salespeople and cashiers in general, even the rude ones), bid her good morning, and asked her whether they had those my size. 
She looked at me up and down once again, took the shoes out of my hands and evidently pitying me, said: "I'm sorry, sweetie, those are not on sale".

Excuse me?

Did I ask you the price? Did I ask you if they were on sale? No, I did not! I asked you if you had them my size! And that's what I told her, smiling and in a very low voice (I'm very well bred, thank you, and do not make scenes).
Me: "Are you implying I cannot afford these?"
Bitch stuttered, I continued.
Me: "I did not ask you if they were on sale, I asked you whether you had those my size. Don't bother answering now, though, I'd much rather go to Mr. Cat [one of the most expensive shoe stores in the city] and buy whatever shoes I want from them. Now, if you'll excuse me..." and I left.
Mr. Cat is, by the way, right across from that other store. I entered it, bought 2 pairs of shoes and flaunted the shopping bags around. Didn't know if the bitch could see it and I didn't care. I was still pissed that I hadn't gone as far as saying: "Look, sweetie, everything I'm wearing right now probably costs more than your entire paycheck! I live by the beach and my family owns a freaking factory - what about you? I've got a master's degree and I speak 3 foreign languages - what about you, huh? Please know that you're gonna be a shitty saleswoman for the rest of your shitty life. NOW if you'll excuse me...".
The kind of answer that only occurs to you much later - and the kind of thing I'd never really have the guts to say to anyone. That would be simply horrible, and I'm not that much of a bitch. Besides, to be quite frank, I hadn't gotten my master's degree yet (give me one more month though!), and I actually speak only 2 foreign languages and a... errr... well, a third of another - my German is very basic. Still, I could afford quite a few expensive shoes, and did not deserve to be treated like that.
By the time I got home, however, I was pretty satisfied with the answer I'd actually given. Much classier, if you ask me. And as I was also in need of a pair of brown boots, I would've probably bought more than one pair of shoes, had the bitch treated me nicely.
Big mistake. Big. Huge.

10 comments:

Ricademus said...

I don't know if she was pitying you, but she sure was being lazy--thinking you couldn't afford them, she wasn't going to waste her time and energy getting a pair in your size.

I love your classy, but still very direct, reaction to that, um, person.

I'm tempted to ask a question (Never???), but I better not be a wise-guy tonight! =)

Rml said...

Lol, thnx! I always try to think of what grandma would tell me to do! =P

Daydream Believer said...

Two days after my encounter, I had a similar one at the bank! I'm just going to become a shut-in and never leave the house. Thanks so much for your awesome, kind words! Your blog is one of my must-reads, too!!

Rml said...

You had another one of those?! Man, what's wrong with those people, really... I think THEY should become shut-ins!

beanizer_05 said...

alright..my sweet nerves are back to post a comment..

* I realized I should (somehow) be grateful that my sis let me see that movie, at least i can relate to what you're saying here..Vivian, the hooker who never do sex but never allow anyone to kiss her lips..right???..i like that scene when she came back to that store in a white suit..hehehe..oh i remember everything..but i still love her using the dental floss aftr those strawberries..haha! ok im getting carried away..

i love that movie
(hey! i'm giving a lot of comments here, hope you don't mind)

to be continued...

beanizer_05 said...

continuation (2nd part)..

~what are you doing in a gym anyway? Gaining weight??..hmmm..now that reminds me of the girl in the bench wearing shades..and tennis shoes came for her photo more than her blog that time!hehe)

and your confrontation w/ that bitchy saleslady made me love you more! wow! im proud of my wife!

to be continued...

beanizer_05 said...

continuing the 3rd part..

Just a 'lil sharing,,i had this experience too. Way back in college, i am the head of one of the school org., as a requirement, we need to have org. t-shirts. Together w/ my members, we jump from on different stores to find the right source. On this particular store, my member approached the saleslady, asking her for different samples of the kind of shirt and colors. That bitch was obviously lazy to provide us what we needed coz she's busy talking w/ the other salesladies. Her manner of answering my friend was unexcusable.
Me, being so sweet, get in the conversation saying "Can I talk with your store manager?"..It was like a magic word that they finally came to their senses. They were like tamed dumb bitches. Their store manager talked to them and they gave the samples. Too bad, we didn't buy them..

hmmm...are my comments good enough??? or...

beanizer_05 said...

oops! correct my 1st comment..vivian goes to bed but never allowed them to kiss her lips...

so i guess my comments are not good enough, i got no replies..hmp! *leaving*

wasted much time here..

Rml said...

@beanie: wow, that was a big post alright! Lol, at least give me time to comment back, will ya?! Tsk tsk tsk...
I'm not surprised at your loving the film! You're cheesy, remember?! As for the gym, I used to work out to, you know, stay in shape. But I hate working out... It's darn boring, really.
Hahahaha, awww, thanks for being proud of me! I, too, am proud of your having dealt so well with your own situation! Are we classy pple or what?! =P

Massimo Zeppetelli said...

Excellent victory for dignity! You heroine Beta. I bet she felt so embarassed and stupid. May this always remind you when you have a similar situation where you are bursting to explode!