Wednesday's Words on a Friday
On Wednesdays, Delores,
from Under The Porch Light, has a word challenge meme which she calls “Words
for Wednesday”.
She puts up a selection
of six words which we then use in a short story, or a poem.
I’m hopeless at poetry
so I always do a story.
It’s a fun challenge…why
not join in?
This week's words are:
1. basement
2. fulfilled
3. spastic
4. imbecile
5. swimming
6. gentile
we also have::in and out of time, in and out of rhyme, with you
Today I have just used the 6 words.
Here is my story:
Meckleberg's Bargain Basement was having a sale.
A sale! And I had to go. I'd promised.
The designated bag holder, that was me.
A few weeks ago my wife had done me a favour and I had promised to return that favour whenever she had need of it.
Today was that day. Going to the sale fulfilled my part of the favour promise and let me tell you, I never want to do that again.
A favour for my wife, of course. But a sale in a bargain basement?
Never!!
Pushing and shoving through hundreds (thousands?) of women, I felt like a salmon swimming upstream. Watching the spastic jerking of arms reaching towards panties, slips, girdles etc all piled on tables with no order whatsoever was a nightmare I never want to see again.
Meckleberg's is a Jewish store, (owned by Stan Meckleson and his cousin Hiram Goldberg), and for most of the year 99% of the customers are Jewish women, but today there were Gentile women in the crowd and let me tell you, oy vey! when it comes to snatching a bargain from the hands of another, those gentiles were as bad as the Jews.
This was worse than mark-down hour at the butcher shop!
I never heard such hissing and muttering before in my life! One woman even called another "imbecile" as the first stubbornly hung on to a blouse clearly many sizes too small, and those two were best friends!
Let me tell you, next time I promise a favour, I'm going to ask for specific conditions.
No bargain basement sales!
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I can see the turmoil at those bargain tables clearly.
ReplyDeleteI once worked at a store that had similar sales and you have captured it very well.
ReplyDeleteI was a little taken back at the "Gentiles being as bad as the Jews." I thought that was a little harsh and an unfair stereotype. Then I realized you had to use the word Gentile...not all that easy to use in your scenario.
I worked in the underwear department of a clothing store many years ago. You have captured the insanity of those sales very, very well. Not a pleasant memory.
ReplyDeleteHe is a braver man than I, a woman, am! I've never been a part of those crazed mobs....but I have seen similar behaviour by diners at buffets!! Buffets I've catered for at various restaurants etc., in which I worked...not attended as a diner! Scary events, both!!!
ReplyDeleteI stay well away and always have! lol
A well-written, entertaining tale, River. :)
Do not like sales, never get what you want always end up you just can't use, I agree with you poor fellow they are just not fun.
ReplyDeleteMerle..........
Delores; I've been in such a crowd, unwillingly, I'd entered the basement to get to their pet department and was swept along by a throng of women.
ReplyDeleteJoeh; possibly a little unfair, but I worked on what I'd seen in movies and it's a well known fact (in books and movies at least) that Jewish people can sniff out a bargain and take advantage of sales. I sincerely hope I haven't offended anybody.
Elephant's Child; I've never worked in a clothing store and that's probably a good thing. I'd lose sales in the hundreds just telling women "that looks terrible on you."
Lee; oh those buffets! I've seen the action at one or two, People surging forward, filling their plates like they hadn't eaten in a month and this was the only meal they were likely to see for some time and EVERYONE grabbing for the prawns! I'd get to the tables and head for the untouched fruit platters.
Merle; You're right about never getting what you want. Mostly those sell-out sales are held to get rid of stock that hasn't sold all year, because they're odd sizes that no one will fit into or weird fabrics and colours that no one would be seen dead in. or just so terribly old-fashioned that nobody wants them.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I could really see the whole scene quite clearly!! And in a work of fiction where you are painting a word picture of an imaginary event, I wouldn't expect the normal rules of journalism to apply ie you are not required to be balanced and inoffensive. Well done!!
ReplyDeleteRed Nomad; thanks, I didn't worry too much about offending anyone, but you never know.
ReplyDelete