Rant: H&M staff
I know I haven’t blogged in a while (I’ve been feeling sorry for myself as I had a cold that was kicking my butt) and I had a totally different blog lined up for today actually, but something happened today that is completely unbelievable I just have to get it off my chest. It’s the kind of thing that makes my blood boil.
Let me set the scene, me and the tweenager had gone to H&M to get her some leggings for Winter. When she was in the change room, me and the wee babe waited patiently in the entrance of the change room. The tweenager’s backpack was placed on the ground in front of the stroller. I didn’t think it was badly placed but one of the staff thought so, so she picked it up and placed it on the table. Ok, not a big deal but I had an uneasy feeling about that.
The tweenager finished trying on the leggings and we promptly left – sans backpack.
We did some more shopping for groceries in two different shopping malls beside each other. When we had finished we were beginning to walk back home when I asked “Where is your backpack?” We both stopped dead in our tracks and remembered that it MUST be at H&M.
We hightailed it back there to the floor above where the change rooms are. (There was an elevator that I needed to get on to go down to the floor with the change room and it’s always busy and a bit out of the way so we decided that I would park the stroller at the top of the stairs in H&M and then the tweenager would walk down stairs, grab the backpack, and meet me back up the stairs. Lickety split.
Why oh why would I think it would go that smoothly.
She came back up the stairs – sans backpack – I uttered a “oh no” under my breath and asked “what happened?”
She said that there was nothing in the change room and that there was huge lineup downstairs so she was just going to ask on this level where there was only one person being served at the cashier.
She walked over to the cashier who was talking to her customer. I was watching from afar and it was taking FOREVER!! You ever get in one of those situations where the cashier just won’t shut up about something ridiculous and the line keeps growing and growing and she’s completely oblivious to it all? Yeah this is what was happening to the tweenager – thankfully she was next in line.
Finally after I’m sure it was 5 minutes, the cashier finally said goodbye to her new BFF and served my daughter. They conversed a bit, I saw her use the phone, and then grab a yellow pad of paper.
Time for the mama to infiltrate. (Oh and by the way, let’s try to remember that this next conversation is about to take place in French and I have a cold that has wreaked havoc on my vocal chords so I can barely talk anyway.)
I said to the tweenager “they don’t have it?” and she said “apparently not” and the cashier said “If you just give me your name and phone number we can call you if we find it.”
Then I said “it’s impossible that it’s not here. And we need to get it back today as it has all her school stuff in it. I’m going to take a look downstairs.”
So she said “why don’t you just give me your phone number and name…” and I cut her off while making a motion to leave while saying “I just want to check downstairs first before…” Oh and the lineup behind is now about 6 people deep…
So she said (like a broken record) “You don’t want to give me your name and phone number??” And I was stuck – do I just rudely walk away from this woman who doesn’t seem to get that I don’t want to give her my name and phone number, I JUST want to look downstairs???
The woman behind me could hear it all (and my terrible French and my thick accent) so she says in English, “you just want to go downstairs first right?” and I said “YES! EXACTLY!!” and promptly turned and fled for the elevator.
We get downstairs and walk to the back of the store where the change rooms are and things just get a little more weird.
There were two woman in the change room that work there so I ask them “have you seen a black backpack?” and they say “no, no one has seen it, we told the woman upstairs to take your name and phone number” and I said “it’s impossible that no one knows where it is… is there a back room or something where it could have gone?”
She says “Madame, everyone is aware of the lost backpack and no one knows where it could have gone. Where did you say you left it?”
I point on the table RIGHT beside me but they are both basically just brushing me off. I HATE to be brushed off.
So something in me decides to look under the table. I’m not sure what it was but it’s almost like I have a 6th sense. Eerie.
And as they say in French VOILA! There’s the freaking backpack. Right in front of their noses. From asking my tweenager if it was in plain sight for them, she said it was behind some empty hangers, so you put two and two together.
So I declare “C’est juste la!!!!!!!!!” (which means “it’s right there!”) Bitches…
As my friend Jenn says back home “They’ve been banned!”
And there you have it. My trip to H&M. I won’t even begin to tell you what happened with the tweenager and her key this morning or when I was standing in the line up at the grocery store and the wee babe was crying her face off while the lady older than dirt was filtering through her change… Let’s just say it hasn’t been exactly a stellar day.
There’s always tomorrow. Oh and only two more sleep until my mommy comes 
