I've been trudging along steadily in my rehab of sorts, accepting appointments with more willingness and patience. I've done okay despite some challenging brides testing my tolerance level.
Back in September, I worked with a bride who spent the entire appointment texting on her phone. At least while she was in the fitting room with me. In a small fitting room, made smaller by all the "poofy" wedding gowns she wanted to try on. And in a small room with no circulating air, so it was warm which made me sweaty.
So there I was, in this rather small space, door shut, big dresses everywhere, no air, sweat dripping down my nose as I laced, zipped and buttoned this distracted bride-to-be into gown after gown. She would lift her head from her phone to pull her hair up for me or to glance at herself in the mirror, once the gown was on, to offer her (non-expressive) opinion.
Now, one thing I must tell you; if I was at my "real" job, as an RN, I would have words with this chick or any patient who was too busy on their phone to engage in conversation with me. Your time may be valuable, but so is mine, as well as the other patients that are entrusted to me. You can talk/text to whomever you want, just not when I need to work with you.
It may sound like a "power" trip, but it's not. There are just certain things that have to get done as soon as possible, in a medical setting, and those things trump some one's need to be on the phone. Nurses just can't keep coming back to a patient, to check if that patient is available yet. Time and the law don't allow for that.
In a bridal shop setting, however, being an assertive RN, doesn't make for a good appointment or for happy owners. There were several better ways to handle (delicately and tastefully) this dis-engaged bride, but I took the most non-confrontational route and didn't make the phone an issue.
For one thing, I simply chose not to make it an issue...she still was a client (with a rather big budget) and I didn't want to make the appointment any worse by pointing out her rather rude behavior.
Secondly, I was having a hard time remaining professional with all the sweat dripping off my face from the close quarters in which I was working. Thank God she had her face down to her phone so she didn't see me literally wiping the sweat onto my sleeves. Thank God I had a busy print on, to hide the make-up smudges.
And thank God that I remembered to use deoderant that day.
What was more remarkable was that even after probably the most awkward appointment I've ever had, I was able to find a dress that she liked. Although she didn't buy that day, she did bring her mom back a week later and bought the dress. Not only did she buy a $1600 gown, but she told the owners that she really enjoyed working with me!
Go figure.
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