In my previous post I have mentioned 'buying shoes'. The word 'shoes' sends me right back to a weird episode in the past.
There was a small , rather pricey shoe-shop near the place where I worked; it specialized in italian quality shoes for women: fine leather, comfortable style, fashionable colors. The display window featuring the new collections always attracted me like magnet while on my way to and from work.
It was a family shop run by a middle-aged couple; the man was at the cash machine, his wife - took care of the customers. During busy hours they were joined by their daughter-in-law who helped keeping an eye on everything in the shop.
At a certain stage , the owners of the shop hired a young salesman and the two women were rarely seen since . The new guy looked completely out of place. He had the appearance of a wrestler, hardly fit to deal with women and sell them shoes. Well, his appearance was deceptive as he became known to have infinite patience for his female customers and good knowledge in the shoe trade.
Several months after he started working at that shop, it so happened that I saw a pair of suitable shoes in the window and I entered the shop to try them on. The salesman greeted me with a big smile , asked me politely to sit down , and went to bring the box with the required shoes. He then gently took off the shoes I was wearing, examined my feet to make sure they were not swollen from walking or standing (that's what he said), put them carefully into the new shoes. He radiated professionalism. Apparently, the shoes were a bit too tight, so he brought a bigger size and started again with the 'ceremony'.
At this point, I felt the guy was unneccessarily touching my feet, and I realized that he was probably one of those men who had a foot fetish. I didn't know how to react so as not to shame him, so I I just grabbed the shoes , paid for them, and decided to keep away from that shop in the future.
I told about my shoe- shopping experience to a co-worker. To my great astonishment, she shamelessly admitted that she had often entered the shop, not always with the intention to buy shoes; she was just interested in a "free massage" for her tired feet.
Well, as they say "it takes two to tango". Besides, good service is sending customers away satisfied and happy - and my co-worker, so it appeared, was a happy, satisfied customer.