Pushy Salespeople

Let me just ask, do I look like a criminal to you?

No, I don't. I look like a middle aged woman who cheated by using dry shampoo this morning and can't turn her head in a hurry because her neck hurts.


However, the salespeople at our local Shopper's Drug Mart seemed to think otherwise. I guess. I mean, that could be the most logical explanation as to why I got asked three times if I needed help with something in the cosmetics section and then noticed the same ladies surreptitiously finding something to shift or tidy up in the aisles that I was in. This is not a high end store where people get makeovers or require advice on how to use the latest beauty product. No, this is a place where there is a display of regular drug store makeup: Cover Girl, Revlon, Maybelline, etc.


I was moving slowly and checking out each display because I had run out of my favourite Clinique shade of eyeshadow and I was hoping to replicate the same colour in a lower priced product. Yes, oh my god, I reached into my purse... to get my reading glasses so I could read the tiny print on the bottle of yet another anti-frizz, smoothing hair somethingorother that I was looking at. No, I did not slip a rogue mascara in my purse when you weren't looking.


In fact, I have never stolen anything in my life, apart from a fat blue crayon from a box brimming with fat blue crayons in a school store room when I was around 8 years old, for which I felt horribly guilty and didn't end up ever colouring with because I was so consumed with self-loathing!


I'm so honest, I do not even sample a grape in the grocery store to see if they are sweet enough to purchase.


But back to the story at hand. I like to do my own thing. I rarely ask for help in a store unless it is a place that sells things with which I am not familiar, like automotive supplies. Trust me, by now I can pick out my own makeup. I don't want your advice. I don't want your suggestions. Just leave me alone and let me browse through the displays. In fact, I am more likely to purchase more things if I am left alone. If you bother me and ask me what I am looking for, repeatedly, I will likely leave the store quickly. No doubt, these salespeople have been encouraged to approach customers and be smiley and helpful. I am fine with that... once. But if I have told you  I'm fine, or just looking, believe me. The following around bit was insulting. I almost thought I should suggest they look in my purse to make sure I hadn't performed a little slight of hand. I admit that I was a bit short with my final, "Seriously, I'm fine."


I did choose a few items, made my way to the cash register, and upon leaving with my purchases, wouldn't you know it, I set the beeper off. Of course. When I turned back , bag held up, questioning look on my face, the cashier said I was fine and to just go through, but I'm certain the makeup spies were pointing fingers and proclaiming, "I knew it!!"


Ughhhh, it's going to be a while before I go in there again. Anyway, off I went to get groceries and my disappointment with humans was replaced with absolute glee upon finding these:

These are THE BEST paring knives on the face of the Earth (in my opinion). Tomatoes? Not a problem. Cutting out potato eyes? Perfect. Slicing meat? A breeze. These knives are small with a thin blade that is serrated and they are fabulous. Husband was trying to pry something with one and broke it, so I was down to two (yes, I had three of these at one point just in case one was dirty, or had been used to cut raw meat, and I was still cutting something else in food preparation). I like these better than Henckel paring knives and others that I've accumulated over the years. What about you? I'm sure anybody who cooks has a favourite knife that they reach for.