Interrupted

My Life Thus Far
2016-11-15 05:39:46 (UTC)

Vindicated

I made it through another early day... and it wasn't so bad, actually. Perhaps that's a sign of maturity. Being able to get up at 5am, leave the house by 6:30am, and not feel the need to cry about it. Personal growth, for sure.

The changes made to bra wardrobing center were predictable. In fact, I felt slightly vindicated. Last update the company wanted me to take a very popular bra out of the rotation, but I refused. I left it in. I sell too many of them to not have it on hand in the fitting rooms. Today, I was instructed to put it back in. Which made this update that much easier since I never took it out! It took me about 40 minutes to replace missing bras, worn out bras, add bows to bras missing them (that's how we know which ones go back in the drawers and which ones go back on the floor). Usually a BWC update takes a minimum of two hours.

Sara the new merch manager tried to passive aggressively throw me under the bus during SLM. It backfired, and I had to try very hard to hide my amusement and satisfaction. Which is petty of me, but I never professed to always being the bigger person. Last week she asked me to supervise a fitting she was giving a customer. She bombed it. She was WAY off, and I told her so. Not in a mean or demeaning way, but I did say it was wrong in front of the customer, because the customer's satisfaction and confidence in the fitting experience is way more important than the associate's ego. Especially when that associate is a manager and should be one of the best bra fitters in the business. We always coach in the moment and I give detailed instructions on how to resolve the issues that led to the inaccurate measurement. She didn't take the criticism well, and acted very offended that I told her she was wrong. Even though she asked me to watch her.

So today during the meeting when Christine asked us if we had anything to add, Sara piped up saying that we need to not coach associates in front of customers. Especially during fittings. Christine squashed that, and basically said what I just wrote. We coach in the moment to ensure the customer feels confident that the measurement is correct. Once she gets a bra on and it's totally wrong, we may have lost her confidence. We want her to put that bra on her body and feel amazed. Not disappointed. Sara went quiet. Christine asked her if an associate complained to her about our coaching style and I immediately jumped right in and said "no, I critiqued her fitting last week." Sara's face was a combination of irritation and embarrassment. I don't know what she was trying to accomplish doing that. I was vindicated, though. Yet again. I'm good at what I do. It's one of the few things I'm certain of. I'm hoping she doesn't take it personally. I didn't do it to make her feel bad. At all. Most newer associates are totally fine with admitting they aren't good at fittings yet. She shouldn't act any better regardless of what her title maybe.

My poor Keeny is sick. He stayed home from school and missed ballet, so I know he isn't feeling well. He's running a fever and complaining of muscle pain and fatigue. No other symptoms, so I'm assuming it's some sort of virus. Maybe the flu, although he doesn't have too many flu-related symptoms other than the fever and muscle ache. I gave him some Hyland's homeopathic nighttime cold meds (which treat restlessness, irritability, discomfort, and a litany of other sickness complains), but it doesn't treat a fever as well as good old fashioned Children's Tylenol. So, I'm having Snookums pick some up on his way home tonight. I hate giving the kids pharmaceuticals, but sometimes it's necessary and he's not comfortable.

I bought him orange juice and his favorite snacks. I got him to drink two glasses and he ate some crackers, a couple cookies, and seemed to be in better spirits for it. He's sleeping now, but fitfully. I think he'll sleep better after we get his fever down a bit, but I can already tell he won't be making it to school tomorrow, either. Good thing I'm off.




Ad: