STOREies

People ask me what it's like working my 6-hour or 8-hour shifts at the clothes store where I work, and to tell you the truth, it really is a lot more than just standing all day and fixing clothes.

The 'Capoeirista'

"Four dots. Imagine four dots on the floor." My Chilean work buddy decides to entertain us on a slow Tuesday afternoon at the store with some of his new Capoeira moves. "They form a square, one foot goes here, the other there...see? It's easy!" Next thing I knew, he was on his hands, and his feet were in the air. He's a pretty cool guy, very independent for his age, out in Barcelona on his own at a young age. "See? It's easy!" he says, doing a little more capoeira moves. Outgoing and adventurous as his moves are in practicing this martial art, he's a breath of fresh air to be around with.

What the F#%k?!

I asked the girls once, "Which piece of clothing do you think is the worst in the store?" I pointed to one i knew i'd never wear and would never thinkof designing had i been the designer. It was a green and grey knit top, with fake white fur sewed on to the front of it, in the shape of a square maze. I thought I was looking at something strange until my work mate brought over a shirt with three sleeves, the third one coming out of its chest area, like a trunk would off the face of an elephant. "This would go with three-legged pants" I thought. We hadn't sold a single piece of that one.

Sweet German Guy

A guy in what I thought would be in his early 30's comes into the store, and tries on a sweater around the area where one of the girls and I were tidying up some of the clothes at the shelves. Typically German in build, he was tall, long-limbed, white, lanky. He has brown hair that kind of flopped on to the sides of his head. "How does this fit?" he asked my work buddy. She replied in English that it was a little small for him. Then he started asking more questions and she turned to me since she started having a hard time with the laguage. So I attended to him. He turned to me and I saw the face of a little boy asking him momma to help him out with his clothes. The sweater's sleeves only barely reached his wrists, and he asked me innocently, cheerfully what I thought about it. So I told him maybe he should try a larger size, and then he put on a larger one and was happy with it after he felt more comfortable in it. With his cheery, innocent, child-like disposure, he asked me if the color would be good for spring. His friendly, trusting, happy energy was just sweet. Later on, he tried on another top, and would come out of the dressing room to ask me if it looked nice, and would take my opinions on everything he asked. We chatted (as I like doing with the clients I attend to) and so I found out he was German, and he found out I was from the Philippines. As he paid for his purchases, he got discounts the store was giving for the day, and I told him, "Great day for shopping isn't it? You get all these discounts." And in his sweet goofy manner, he replied, "Yes, it is a great day for shopping, I got nice clothes, discount, and I met you." The best part of the whole thing was that it didn't come off as some flirty comment at all. I laughed, thanked him for coming to the store, and continued with the rest of my tasks.

Dream Dog

A client went in the store once, with a three-month old French Bulldog. For those who don't know it, i'm crazy about dogs with crumpled faces. I came up to her, went crazy over the puppy, and she let me carry it. The dog fell right to sleep in my arms. Then I jokingly told her, "If you'd like, you can go check out our clothes and leave him with me!" She laughed, amused at my attraction to the dog, and let me have him for the rest of the time she was at the store.

Morocco, Warm and Cool

The best part of working at the store i'm at is the people, one of them being the Moroccan security guard. You 'settle in' into a conversation with him as easily and comfortably as you would on a warm, sandy beach under the shade of a coconut tree. The time at the store becomes that much happier with the little bits of conversation this work buddy of mine chats up when you're around fixing clothes up at his area.