(Not) Open for Business

Went to the mall today to get a thank you gift for some referred business. It was nice to see the shops all geared up for the holiday shopping season. Possibility was everywhere.

Something else was everywhere, too, though - store clerks everywhere were talking on their cellphones! I can't tell you how many different places I saw this.

Now I realize that Friday morning isn't a peak shopping time and the mall WAS pretty empty. But that just made it worse. I'd walk into an empty store and find the lone sales clerk talking on the phone. The thing was, I needed some help finding a suitable gift to buy. But in each store, I couldn't even establish eye contact with the clerk. They were seemingly too deep into their phone conversations to bother with me!

"Excuse me, but I need some help."

The more common response I got was "Sure, hang on a sec" (to ME they said that), but a close runner-up was no response at all, just that blank stare someone gives you when they don't really see you at all because they're so intent on what they're hearing through the telephone.

It was all very disheartening. And what made it worse, was that the clerks that DID end their call to help me were of no help at all. They just said things like, "Why don't you just look around," or "We don't have anything like that," or some other dismissive comment.

Now I don't think it's me. I mean I was ready to buy. But they weren't anywhere near ready to sell. And I couldn't help wonder what the boss would say if he or she knew this was going on. Until, that is, I entered a cute little import store where the owner was ... can you guess ... talking on her cellphone!

So I left. Without a gift. And without that wonderful feeling of possibility. Well at least I got an blog entry out of it!