Oh Well ....

Oh Well - it pays not to anticipate sometimes.

At the minute my Beloved is travelling regularly to Melbourne (our state capital), which is a drive of about two and a half hours. I sometimes go with him, and fill in my time in various ways - today it was to be a quick trip to a needlework shop I hadn't been to, and then try and do some serious work on the garden where Beloved works.

I had found this shop in the latest Embroidery and Cross Stitch mag, and checked out the webpage, and as it was sort of "just down the road", I was joyfully anticipating a nice little trip there, and a cheerful writeup here, and a listing on my Shops in Melbourne and Country Victoria page. And spending a little bit on some nice things.

Well, after the twenty-minute drive from the workplace, I got there to find I had left my purse at home - three hours away. Not even a credit card. Not to worry, I thought, I will ask if they will accept my credit card number, and treat it as a phone order. I haven't got any identification on me, but she can take the car number - and it is a most respectable-looking car. I am sure Beloved has it in his organiser, and I can just ring him and get it. But I will ask first.

And, that is where it came unstuck. There was a customer at the counter, and she and the woman behind the counter spent about half an hour discussing where to get organic vegetables, and what restuarants would serve a vegan meal etc etc etc. At one point the woman behind the counter stopped talking to take a telephone call, after I had been in the shop about twenty minutes, and then went back to the other woman and continued the conversation. At one stage she brushed past me and said "Do you want help", not Hello, or "How are You", or anything like that. So I foolishly said "No, I'm having a look", because by that time I was starting to feel quite unwelcome, and I was thinking that surely she and the other woman would finish their conversation soon - but it went on and on and on. Then another woman came into the shop - by this time I was hovering at the counter, as the first woman appeared to be leaving. And yes - the woman behind the counter went straight to the other woman, and started to serve her, and they started a personal conversation.

So I left. And found later my purse had been under the car seat all the time. Oh well - it has been a cheap day. And I got a fair bit of tatting done coming and going.

But I wonder - should I put them on my webpage - which would maybe encourage other people to go there???Do I put them on with a note that customer service may not be their distinguishing point, or do I just leave them off altogether??? I have a friend who is a restaurant reviwer for a major newspaper - must ask him if he has ever had to walk out of a place.