Pet Peeves

Yarn Store Hermit

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This weekend, I broke my yarn diet and went to a local yarn store.  (I bought a cute hat kit with squishy yarn that was decently priced).  When I walked in, an employee walked up, greeted me, and asked if I had been there before.

About thirty seconds later, another employee walked up, greeted me, and asked if I had been there before.

Now granted, these are kind gestures and also a good idea from a business perspective to, you know, greet your customers.  But I really want to be left alone when I enter a store.  Just say hello and tell me that you’re there if I have any questions.  That’s all I really want and need.

Was this the end of the interactions? Haha, no.  About ten seconds later, the owner came out, shook my hand, and asked if I had been there before.

By this point, my introverted brain was screaming, “OH MY GOD.  LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET ME BROWSE.”

I spent about 15 minutes browsing and found the small hat kit.  I brought it to the register to purchase, and asked the owner if it was an easy knit.  She said yes, and then said, “Let’s open up your kit,” and started opening up my kit without asking.  A whole bunch of personal pet peeves were being checked off.  Then she started blabbering on about the pattern and giving unsolicited advice, ALL I WANTED TO KNOW IS IF IT WAS AN EASY KNIT.

I understand that these people did absolutely nothing wrong, and were perfectly nice, but when you want to shop anonymously and keep to yourself, it was all a bit much.

Categories: Pet Peeves

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9 replies »

  1. Oh, I’m the same way as you!! I had a similar experience last weekend, with all the employees wanting to “help” me when all I wanted was to be left alone. But to open your kit?? That’s crossing a line, in my world.

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  2. Your tags, lol!!!

    Might be a bit rude for your taste but this is why I keep my headphones on when entering a store or really, anytime I’m alone in public. It instantly lets the world know I’m not up for a conversation. And my headphones are not noise cancelling but I pretend they are if someone’s calling me. I don’t even care. 🙂

    But I’m not sure how to handle them opening your kit without even asking. That was weird. I’d like to think I’d have asked for a newer, unopened kit, but probably not, eh? These things are always easier said than done. A similar thing happened to me once. I was buying a hairbrush and the cashier was in the middle of a conversation with another store clerk (who was in the back and who had stopped responding) and for some reason she saw it fit to knock my hairbrush on the counter several times to get the other person’s attention. I was horrified but it happened so fast I was speechless. I wished for a long time that I had spoken up for myself and told her to knock it off (punny) and asked for a new hairbrush. I never saw her again at the store. I don’t think she lasted very long there.

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    • Ah, that’s smart! I should bring those in with me next time.

      Those situations are so tricky! I can’t think of a proper way of handling them until two hours later. Hopefully your brush didn’t get damaged from that encounter.

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  3. And this is the reason why I mostly shop online (not only for yarn), at the risk of ordering the wrong size of clothes or the shade of yarn looking different in reality than on the photo. The dreaded customer service and close contact in small stores. I get why they do it but… I have social anxiety, I am obsessed about my personal space, and since moving to Ireland I’m also constantly nervous that I won’t understand someone trying to chat me up (and with Dublin accent, it happens all the time).
    I wonder if this approach really helps them sell more, as I have quite a lot of friends who also prefer to shop online or in a large supermarket rather than going to a small store and feeling pressured to buy something.

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  4. Me. Sometimes I’m in the mood to chat and sometimes I’m not. I’d rather be the one to make that call, though? When I worked in retail, I always let the customer lead with how conversational they wanted to be.

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