I Don't Sew.

The most frustrating customers fall in to one of two categories: women and children. My store sells bras and panties (We'll call it "Pantyland"), so I work with the former.

I'll just go ahead and say it - Women are BITCHY.

A customer ("Sporty") came in today looking for a particular kind of bra (wireless). We don't have a lot of styles in this particular kind of bra, but Pantyland does have a couple of styles. I showed Sporty the different options. Then she wanted to see another kind of bra (unlined). No big deal, lots of women want options. So I led her to unlined bras. Then, she wanted to see a bra that combined the two (unlined wireless). Unfortunately, we don't carry those. Insert Dirty look # 1. Sporty then decided to go back to the first bras I showed her. She told me what size she wanted, and then stood and watched while I dug through the bra bin. We didn't have her size. Dirty look # 2. So we went to the other bra bins. Again, she watched while I dug through 30 bras looking for her size. It wasn't the color she wanted. Dirty Look #3. Bra in hand, I got her a dressing room. It wasn't big enough. Dirty Look #4. Sporty decides that she doesn't like the color of the bra, but wants to try on a sports bra. And yoga shorts. I go get them for her. Decides she likes the sports bra, but in a different color. A color we don't have. The customer stares at me (Dirty Look #5), and huffs that "Well, I really need it in white."

What I would like to say: You need it in white? What we have out is what we have. We don't custom make bras. If we did make custom bras, we wouldn't mass produce all these other ones. However, we don't make custom bras. I don't sew. So don't huff at me and expect me to go to the back and magically produce merchandise that doesn't exist just because you want it.

What I actually said: I'm sorry ma'am, what we have out is what we have. You could try another store or you can order online.

Moral of the story - Associates can't do magic. If we don't have something in stock, you're not getting it today.