Knitting is my new hobby, interest, and delight. It is a perfect excuse for a lazy afternoon and a soft ball of yarn. Making a warm fuzzy gift is a beautiful expression of love and care. When I die, my knitted pieces will be little hints of who I was and what I did. Outward affectionate does not come easy to me. I hide my emotions with a stone face and a straight back. I am naturally less affectionate and I control my feelings because expressing them would expose me to my eventual demise. In short, the Devil would hop on my head and kill me. The way I show love is with a carefully prepared meal, a music tape or a knitted/crocheted item. After all love is an intangible emotion that can make you do wrong or right. It is hard to look back and feel love that has faded or has died. Recorded music selected for you only; snuggling under a blanket knitted just for you allows one to have a tangible memory of love.
Last weekend a friend and I visited a specialty knit shop called “Knitorious”. A cute little place owned by a lady with illuminating eyes that change to gray, green, blue etc. The store supplies a collection of moderately to expensive yarns, books, and knitting needles. I found the store’s customers cool but the colors and textures ample and encouraging. I took an initial tour to realize the reality of the feast, as one would before partaking in a buffet meal. At the end of my tour, I was approached by the owner and asked if she could help me. I inquired about a magazine, which was being sold at the original retail price. I must have offended her but I assumed a 3-year-old magazine must be discounted. I accepted the price because, I was in a specialty shop and specialty shops can sell specialty things at specialty prices. That’s what you call class, right?
It is my 2nd tour, which brings me to the point of the story. I focused on the bulky yarns, which average in price about $20 a yank (unit), 4 to 5 are needed for a small project. As I walked around I felt as if I was being watched. I dismissed the feeling because it could be the familiar feeling of walking while being black (WWBB). I stroll leisurely and examine completed samples of yarns “knitted up”(completed). I was having a good time until I saw the owner spying my friend’s magazine, as if to suggest it had been taken from the store’s rack without being purchased. My friend was guilty of WWBB. Closed her magazine and waved it purposely to show it’s cover which was tagged as a library item. It was crystal clear; we were being watched, like a mouse hole by a sleeping cat. I kept my hands empty and my movements slow. I asked the owner about books on free form knitting and the purpose varying lengths of circular needles. I did not want her to call the police. My past experience has revealed that it is better, guilty or not to avoid them. I had had all I could take and positioned myself near the door to wait for my friend. I resisted a long-winded customer and eventually chose to sit outside and work on my current project.
My friend soon appeared and we walked to the car discussing a trip to get ice cream. Then I noticed the owner of the shop outside watering flowers. I was rolling my “ripped-out” project into a ball and my yarn trailed behind me on the ground. The owner noticed the yarn and leisurely walked over and assessed it. She had left her store and customers to give us a final once over. Economists are debating the long-term economic value of the disappearance of the small “mom and pop” shops verses long-term value of the large chain stores like “Walmart” and the Internet. Some people may look back with nostalgia but I am not going to miss the racist practices and the bad customer service of the small shops. What if the store owner with the illuminating eyes, changed from a person who stereotypes customers based on race and served people with excited energy for the merchandise? What if "Knitorious" became notorious for outstanding customer service for knitters of all ages, races and skill levels? Then, I would be treated like a customer and not a thief. Until then I will buy my yarn over the Internet because as long as I can pay I will be treated like a customer.
2 comments:
As a frequent customer of Knitorious I am amazed at your perception of their friendly manner. True, they are more attentive than say, Hobby Lobby or Michael's, but it is because they like to make sure you are finding what you need. It's a big store, and they know things can be hard to find. It is not their way to be unreasonably suspicious. They certainly are not racist. If they were suspicious of you, perhaps it was because of your obvious manner of regarding their help as an intrusion. If you expect someone to suspect you, they probably will.
As for the owner leaving the store and making a show of watering the flowers to give you a "final once over", that is preposterous. The owner herself takes part in maintaining her flower pots, and I've seen her at the task on numerous occasions.
I would say I'm sorry that you perceived the attention and care the owner (and those who work for her) gives to her store and customers as racial profiling and oppressive, but I can't bring myself to do it. I believe you purposely mistook the situation, and I will say I am sorry that you will miss out on getting to know a great group of women.
Service is only missed when one doesn't receive it. Obviously you received it... congratulations
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