No good deed goes unpunished

[I Am Paula]

Yesterday morning at Jones N.Y. outlet, I was browsing the racks when a rather large woman came out of the dressing room wearing a dress. She asked if I would zip her up. Okay, this dress is WAY too small. I gave a perfunctary tug on the zipper, but the four inch surplus of woman made that unfeasable. I suggested(ready to duck) a size up.
'I've always been an eighteen, give it a good yank'.
No avail.
'Pull down on the hem, it's not sitting right'.
At this point I'm getting a little embarassed. I politely told her 'It must be the cut of the dress'. I wanted to bolt.
'Pull the sides together, then inch the zipper up'.
This is like trying to get a b.b.q. cover on a sofa. Where are the SA's when you need them?
I give the zip one more old college try, hoping a fire alarm will go off or a pregnant woman's water will break, anything for a chance to make my getaway. Of course, the dress rips from her hip to her armpit. Remember, I was just tryng to be helpful.
'Now look at that, and this was the last one in MY size' she says, disgusted.

No good deed goes unpunished. Just thought I'd share a wierd little story.-Celeste

[AmyGaleRT]

Oh good heavens, Celeste! I'd have been mortified!

I hope the store didn't make you pay for the dress or anything...

- Amy

[Fran Moore]

Now that's funny Celeste! You made me smile, but not in an unkind way....

[Leslie Langford]

"I've always been an eighteen, give it a good yank?"

Clearly, this poor woman is totally clueless about the concept of "vanity sizing", or else makes her home along the banks of "De Nile"

As a card-carrying crossdresser, celeste, it was your sworn duty to educate her regarding nuances of womanhood such as this one that we often have a better grasp of .

[Lisa Gerrie]

This reminds me of trying to squeeze a female personality into a male body. Sooner or later something rips and if you're lucky you realize "This really doesn't fit as well as I thought it did."

[Eryn]

Of course, as a non-employee you could say "sorry, but I'm afraid I'll damage the dress if I pull harder." I'd still be prepared for a rapid exit if I were in that situation.

[Rogina B]

LMAO! Good story! And I bet when she took it off in the dressing room,she left it on the floor..Gifted with a keen sense of the very obvious,I would have told her that it is "way too small for her" and not touched the zipper..you were sweet to help her wreck the dress...lol

[Shari]

Thanks for the laugh, Celeste.
I needed that.

[Rita C.]

she need to know that you cant 10 gal. in a 5 gal. bucket

[kimdl93]

I wonder I'd she tried on all the dresses that were her size? That might explain why it was the last one.

I do empathize with the lady. My size, objectively, and the size I want to be are not always in agreement.

[Lynn Marie]

SA trying to help a large woman into a dress. "I'm sorry mam, but when madam pulls in her tummy up there, it just reappears back here under a different name".

[Beverley Sims]

That is one funny situation you will remember forever.

[Diane Smith]

Your story is a hoot. I hope they made her (not you) pay for the dress, or the repairs to it.

I seriously wonder if they give SAs some coaching about how to deal with customers who have chosen sizes that are way too small but refuse to acknowledge the fact? Does anyone here with some retail experience have some stories about this?

- Diane

[Jocelyn Quivers]

LOL, a possible save using your enhanced CD knowledge could have been. "Of course you are a size 18, but this dress came from the Junior's section and not Misses." "Therefore I think a size 20 Junior's would probably be the proper equivalent." Then change the topic by saying, "hey I really love those shoes or purse you have there," by complimenting her purse or shoes. "My wife's birthday is coming up and I think she would really like a style similar to that. "Where did you get those?"

[Ineke Vashon]

ROFL! Talk about denial. One woman said to me once: "I'm not fat. I'm fluffy."

Ineke

[suzanne]

Great story. How did it go when the SA eventually arrive and the story had to be told? Size denial is just as bad as age denial, where some one is "twenty nine with fifteen years experience" Own it, people!

[Being Paige]

That is way too funny, not in a cruel way, but I would have been so uncomfortable

[Michelle (Oz)]

You were sure lucky that there were no more dresses "in her size". Three strikes and she's in?

[Gillian Gigs]

This reminds me of a story from just after my wife and I got married. We when to Banff National Park one weekend, and one of our activities was going to the upper hot springs. There was a rather large woman in front of us who obviously had no swim suit, or towel with her. She steps forward to pay and asks to rent a swim suit and towel. The cashier was being polite and told the woman that regretably they had nothing in her size. Well this woman went ballistic, and ranted on for 3 or 4 minutes about everything that was wrong with Banff and Canada. The line was growing and everyone heard this rant without any problem. At the first pause in the rant, the cashier said in a reasonably clear voice, " lady you don't need a swim suit, you need a tent". I almost peed myself holding in the laugh, as the woman turned red faced and quickly left the building. My wife stepped forward and payed for the both of us, with the cashier not missing a beat.

[I Am Paula]

Great story. How did it go when the SA eventually arrive and the story had to be told? Size denial is just as bad as age denial, where some one is "twenty nine with fifteen years experience" Own it, people!

Finding a SA in an outlet store is like finding gold in a dog turd. I left. I'll bet the woman just left the dress on the floor and stomped out muttering about what a lousy store/brand/dress.

[Georgie]

OMG thats brilliant lol!!!

[UNDERDRESSER]

Your story is a hoot. I hope they made her (not you) pay for the dress, or the repairs to it.

I seriously wonder if they give SAs some coaching about how to deal with customers who have chosen sizes that are way too small but refuse to acknowledge the fact? Does anyone here with some retail experience have some stories about this?

- Diane

In that situation, I'd tell her ( truthfully ) that manufacturers have their own ideas about sizing. It goes both ways, my GF is annoyed by one manufacturer, "These 38 inch hips do not fit into a size 2!" Another range , I always tell people trying them on "Go up one size, trust me on this!"