For Dorc’s last day here in Seattle, I took the day off so we could have one last nearly full day of hanging out. We got lunch at Salumi, visited and ate at Bruce and Brandon Lee’s graves, and then spent four hours downtown. We spent four hours in only THREE stores, the majority of them being in Macy’s where we did some intense bra shopping.

And for all your shiny happy people out there, this entry is going to be one major gripe about the staff at Macy’s intimate apparel section. We were there for about an hour, going back and forth from the dressing room back to the floor, trying on various sizes and brands. Being that it was the middle of the day, the department was pretty empty. We were not hard to spot. Even so, we were not greeted the entire time we were there (at least I was not). Someone must not be reading their customer service instructions, displayed right at the counter, which instructs them to greet customers within 30 seconds of their entering the department.

When we first got to the bra section, I did see one employee eyeing us. Not the “Hi, I acknowledge you, and I’m willing to help you” sort of look. It was more like, “I see you, but I do not want to help you” look. No smile at all. We even made eye contact several times, but each time was cold and unresponsive.

As we tried on some bras in the dressing room, I heard one associate talking to another customer who was trying on bras as well. “How are you doing in there? Can I get you something else?” So this associate was capable of being friendly and helpful…just not with us.

We finally made contact when I approached the associate (the one who had previously been helping the other woman in the dressing room) to ask for a fitting. Framed certificates in the dressing room declared that these employees were “certified fitting technicians,” meaning they had been trained to tell you your proper bra size. How exciting. So I asked one employee for help. She took (and I kid you not) 10 seconds to measure me and then told me I was several cup sizes larger than what I normally wear. Maybe this is too much information, but let’s be honest. It’s no secret I’m not a full-figured woman. I was so shocked, I said, “REALLY?!” in the tone of voice that I would have used if she told me I had two heads. But she had already moved on to measuring Dorc, gave her the same analysis, and was already gone by the time Dorc responded with a “What?! Really?!” over her own measurement.

So we started all over, trying on bras using the sizing that the associate had given us. What a joke. We were NOT the size that this so-called qualified “technician” suggested so confidently. But we did buy bras (in the size that we originally were trying on), and then happily returned them a few hours later after finding more comfortable ones at Gap (where the associate was much friendlier).

If I’m at a restaurant and something is slightly off with my order (but still bearable), I won’t complain. But give me an anonymous platform, and I’ll gladly speak my mind. This  tells me that I’m passive-aggressive…or just a big chicken. So you can bet that I gave a little report at macys.com/tellus to make sure they knew that associate #630719 was unfriendly and was not accurate in her measurement of our bra sizes. Nor did she check back with us to see if our bras were working out. Will my review of my Macy’s experience make any difference? Probably not, but at least I did my part in making sure SOMEONE knows about my disappointing experience. :)

And sometimes, even just one e-mail makes a difference as I found out this past week when Keba made a huge impact simply by writing an e-mail. She received an e-mail promoting a 5K run to benefit a certain organization that supports women and children in Africa. Yet the run called for people to dress up as Africans and compete in a costume contest. Now, how do you dress like an African? Do you wear t-shirts and jeans, which is what I usually see Africans wearing? This organization’s website even has African children dressed in jeans and sweaters. And how do you even lump the whole fashion trend of a continent? Wouldn’t it be offensive for people to come to the run dressed in straw skirts and face paints when, really, the majority of Africans may not be living in remote villages and still gathering nature’s bounty for evening wear? It was an incredibly ignorant, yet innocent, move on the part of this organization.

And so Keba made that known. Within a day, she received an e-mail directly from one of the heads of the organization apologizing and explaining that they had meant no harm in promoting a costume contest. However, they were pulling all the advertisement about the costume contest. WoW. Talk about the power of a simple e-mail, expressing your opinion.

Now if I could get some sort of similar response to *my* e-mail, that would be sweet. (OK, I don’t want her to get fired, but I want people who are unfriendly and rude to know that it’s not acceptable especially when they are in a customer-driven industry.)

Update: The manager of the downtown Macy’s responded and said he had a talk with the supervisor of the Intimate Apparel department, and they’re going to have a talk with that employee. I think I’m just cynical and don’t know if that will *really* happen, but at least I got a response. Or if I’m really curious, I can always go back and see if she’s nicer. I can even ask her for another fitting. She won’t remember me. She didn’t even remember me when she rang up my stuff shortly after she fit me. She asked me, “Did anyone help you today?” I said, “You did.” She looked at me blankly. “You gave me the fitting,” I said. “Oh! It’s hard for me to remember,” she said. Yes, I imagine it is hard to remember people you try to ignore.