IN MARKET AND SHOP
The breeding of a woman is often shown by the manner she uses when shopping or marketing. Courtesy to clerks, to tradesmen of every sort is the mark of a “lady,” the word used in that beautiful old-fashioned sense to which, alas! we have grown a little callous. While a customer has the right measurably to see what a shop affords before she makes her choice, she has no right to give a clerk the trouble of taking out everything when she has no intention of buying. If she gives much trouble before her decision as to a purchase is reached she should thank the clerk in charge for his extra labor. The fact that he is paid for his time does not make this duty the less.
Altercations with clerks and other subordinates in a shop are in execrable taste, are often a sign of an hysterical as well as a choleric temper.
If women should be considerate in their manner toward employees of the shops where they trade, it is quite as true that clerks should be trained to civility by their employers. For instance, a part of the duty of clerks is, of course, to keep watch over the articles sold. To do this it is not necessary, however, to watch the customer as if she were a prospective thief. This attitude on the part of the clerk is not pleasant for the customer and does not encourage trade.
UNWISE ENDEARMENTS
The suspicious attitude is, however, no worse than the familiar one employed by some of the young women serving in shops. A clerk who urges a customer to buy because the article in question has proved so satisfactory in her own family, or the young woman who calls one “dearie” or “honey” as she fits a cloak upon one or manipulates one’s millinery, makes a mistake. The relation between clerk and customer should be always formal and courteous on both sides.
Marketing is a branch of shopping in which many women not fundamentally ill-natured, have the appearance of being so. There is a kind of ugly scrutiny which many women apply to the inspection of vegetables, meat and other edibles that is most unattractive. If these women had an idea of the way they look when they bend their hard cold eyes upon the innocent vegetables and fruits, they would, at any cost, cultivate a more agreeable manner. Beware of the marketing stare. As for a string bag, if you have one put it in the furnace.