Blitzen and I took the day off of school and work to celebrate the day. And a really weird thing happened – we had an amazing time. Blitzen and I have never up to this point been able to sustain 12 hours of one on one interaction without some serious blow back. It was obvious to me that she was trying so hard – she was so engaged, so polite and pleasant. We actually had fun.
At one point during our adventure (which had a surprisingly low amount of guinea interaction) we were in the shoe department at Macy’s. Blitzen wears women’s sized shoes now and this is a problem because Blitzen would like to wear stilettos and it is really hard to simply avoid them since we need to shop in the big lady shoe aisle. We were attempting to find a compromise – a shoe with perhaps a little kitten heal that would feel grown up but not break her ankles. At one point she sat down, sad bordering on mad but clearly exasperated with me and calmly said, “Carrie, I just feel like you are trying to the take the fun out of everything. And I don’t see the difference between those shoes and these shoes!” Well, the difference was about 4 inches of heel but that is not the point. I responded that I didn’t want to ruin the fun and that I understood that she wanted something different than what I was offering. Then I found a young, hip sales lady of color and asked her to help us. Well, I don’t think you can tip in the shoe department – maybe you can and maybe I should have — because this young lady brought us every sparkly, gawdy, golden, twinkling low heeled shoe on the sales floor plus some flats. She went on and on about how high heels hurt her feet and she likes low shoes so she can dance and have fun. And Blitzen recovered without a single rude word, with no snark or tears, no angry monologues about how badly I suck.
I do believe that it was the Guinea Pig Day miracle of 2014.
Send that woman some flowers! At the very least, write her manager so s/he’ll know what a gem is working there. :>
Glad the day was a good one!
That’s a great idea. I second calling the store to compliment her. I’ve done that before and the manager is always so confused that I’m calling to tell them something GOOD and not to complain. I’m sure it helps the sales associate.
You and Blitzen are awesome. I’m so impressed.
Was that one of her Christmas Coupons? Love this!
Whoohoo! I agree, go back or call and brag on her to the manager. And then do all your shoe shopping there on her shift from now on!
Wow! Plus one for Blitzen AND the sales lady.
…”sparkly, gawdy, golden, twinkling…”
That is so awesome! 🙂 Yes, ditto to calling the store! It’s so wonderful when you find someone who helps you and validates what you’ve been saying/thinking. Heaven sent! 🙂 BTW–Hope and I went shoe shopping last week too–yeah on the stiletto interest. 🙂 So glad it was a goo experience!
What an awesome salesperson! Good job to you and B, too, for working it out. I’m glad you had a good day.
Calling the department manager, and following up with a note to the store or district manager would be an awesome thing to do!
thanks for a much needed smile.
Good job by Blitzen and the shoe saleswoman for helping you to have a great day, but give yourself some credit, too–needless to say you didn’t have to take a day off work and spend the whole day with Blitzen, especially when past experience has shown that things are likely to get rough at times. It probably means a lot to her that you don’t give up on planning these outings and spending special time with her. She might not say it directly but she showed it by trying to so hard to be on good behavior.
Love this! I agree with the others who suggest contacting her manager.
Wow, Carrie, SO HAPPY about the wonderful day!! I do believe that young sales person was put in your path to assist in the joy of the day!! May this day of relative calm grow to several days… maybe not this week, but soon!! Certainly give the shoe girl the kudos she deserves by writing a note to her and her manager!
When my young daughter had the same request as Blitzen’s, I ended up buying an inexpensive pair of “sparkly dress up heels — very high” for play, just at home. It solved the problem…They soon realize how “uncomfortable” they feel after a while but they get to enjoy them anyway!
You (and Blitzen!) are SO wonderful! I, too, wore women’s sized shoes when I was about Blitzen’s age (and was quite tall) and desperately wanted to wear high heels. My mother wouldn’t even provide the kitten heel (and now I would never want heels because I’m tall and it would make me taller… which is a whole other story of insecurity). This sounds like the best compromise (so good it doesn’t feel like one)– a low kitten heel, maybe a medium wedge, and as “stylish” and crazy as she likes! And I agree with the commenter katie moon– let her know they’re uncomfortable. That way she won’t feel “small” because you say they aren’t appropriate for her age. Keep up the great work! I love reading!