A day in the life of a vendor
Nov. 10th, 2008 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valis25:00 Get up and take shower at friends' house in WI.
5:30 Go upstairs and eat breakfast. Friends' kids are already up--wow.
6:00 Leave. Wave to friends' kids through the window. Super cute.
6-7:50 Drive. Detours involved.
7:50 Arrive at show location. Set up booth.
8:38 Finish setting up booth and sit down. I am in the hallway in front of the main room, and there are doors to the outside at the end of the hallway, and I begin to get cold, which ends up lasting all day because people keep opening the doors.
9:30 Vendor comes in and starts talking (loudly) about how he's moved out of the "ghetto" and to an area "where the beautiful girls hug each other."
9:40 Listen to a different vendor ranting bitterly to me for ten minutes about 9/11 being an inside job.
10:00 Show starts.
2:00 Former ghetto resident vendor walks through the hallway and says loudly that he's glad we're all here so he can shoplift from us.
2:15 Former ghetto resident vendor walks through again and tries to stuff merchandise down his pants.
3:00 Nearly cause myself injury by trying to stifle laughter caused by dumbest customer ever. (Let's see--an analogy. Imagine selling yarn to a customer and having them pick it up and think it's already a scarf. And then try to put the yarn on as if it is a scarf, even after repeated attempts to explain that it's just yarn. No, really.)
3:45 Former ghetto resident vendor tells the vendor across from me that he's known his dad longer than his dad has known him. And that his customer service has never improved.
4:55 Customer walks up after I've started putting stuff away and begins to shop even though the show closes in five minutes. But she is funny so it's okay. Former ghetto resident vendor walks up behind her, calls her a "beeyotch," kicks her in the ass. Customer tells him "Bite me," and then he calls her a slut and tells some other random vendor that she's been involved in prostitution since day one. Turns out customer is the sister of one of his former employees.
5:10 Begin putting stuff away.
5:35 Load, pull out map.
5:45 Drive. More detours. Find gas station and pay exorbitant price.
6:50 Stop at Starbucks. Am waited on by extremely dedicated and caring baristas. The chai is one of the best I've ever had from a Starbucks. The resulting caffeine high is the only thing which will sustain me in the next hours.
10:45 (which is actually 11:45, MI time) Arrive at home.
11:45 (12:45 EST) Go to bed.
12:15 (1:15 EST) Fall asleep.
I lead such a glamorous life, don't I? *grins*
5:30 Go upstairs and eat breakfast. Friends' kids are already up--wow.
6:00 Leave. Wave to friends' kids through the window. Super cute.
6-7:50 Drive. Detours involved.
7:50 Arrive at show location. Set up booth.
8:38 Finish setting up booth and sit down. I am in the hallway in front of the main room, and there are doors to the outside at the end of the hallway, and I begin to get cold, which ends up lasting all day because people keep opening the doors.
9:30 Vendor comes in and starts talking (loudly) about how he's moved out of the "ghetto" and to an area "where the beautiful girls hug each other."
9:40 Listen to a different vendor ranting bitterly to me for ten minutes about 9/11 being an inside job.
10:00 Show starts.
2:00 Former ghetto resident vendor walks through the hallway and says loudly that he's glad we're all here so he can shoplift from us.
2:15 Former ghetto resident vendor walks through again and tries to stuff merchandise down his pants.
3:00 Nearly cause myself injury by trying to stifle laughter caused by dumbest customer ever. (Let's see--an analogy. Imagine selling yarn to a customer and having them pick it up and think it's already a scarf. And then try to put the yarn on as if it is a scarf, even after repeated attempts to explain that it's just yarn. No, really.)
3:45 Former ghetto resident vendor tells the vendor across from me that he's known his dad longer than his dad has known him. And that his customer service has never improved.
4:55 Customer walks up after I've started putting stuff away and begins to shop even though the show closes in five minutes. But she is funny so it's okay. Former ghetto resident vendor walks up behind her, calls her a "beeyotch," kicks her in the ass. Customer tells him "Bite me," and then he calls her a slut and tells some other random vendor that she's been involved in prostitution since day one. Turns out customer is the sister of one of his former employees.
5:10 Begin putting stuff away.
5:35 Load, pull out map.
5:45 Drive. More detours. Find gas station and pay exorbitant price.
6:50 Stop at Starbucks. Am waited on by extremely dedicated and caring baristas. The chai is one of the best I've ever had from a Starbucks. The resulting caffeine high is the only thing which will sustain me in the next hours.
10:45 (which is actually 11:45, MI time) Arrive at home.
11:45 (12:45 EST) Go to bed.
12:15 (1:15 EST) Fall asleep.
I lead such a glamorous life, don't I? *grins*
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-11 11:17 pm (UTC)and the *joys* having your booth set up next to a vendor who's a total jerk.
Also, don't you just *love* these species of vendors? :
*the whiners - who never have anything good to say about the show, the crowds, the sales, etc. ('Gee, if you're *that* unhappy about everything, maybe you should find a new line of work')
*the gossipers - who love sharing those funny and not-so-funny stories but who often need new glasses because they're usually too blind to notice that you have customers in the booth, and that you'd rather be selling than swapping yarns.
*the babysitting needies - who somehow mistake the booth next to them as a daycare center. ('Yes, I WOULD mind watching your brats for even just a minute')
*the combative partners - whose time would be better spent in a couples therapy session or an anger management class instead of treating their vendor neighbors to yelling, screaming, swearing, tears, and other emo-drama.
*the space hogs - who seem to think that their booth rental also comes with squatter rights to several feet of your booth frontage or the space behind your booth.
*the party people - who come not to sell but gab with their crowd of friends...in front of your booth, rather than cluttering up their own.
And then, there's the rarest species of vendor:
*the professionals - who are polite, cheerful, and positive even when the show's not going well because they left their children, their pets, and their bad attitudes at home. They come prepared. They set up their booth within their designated booth space, they don't sprawl into the aisles, and, if there is territory that's 'first grab, first served', they don't just grab but negotiate with their neighbors so that everyone is treated fairly. They're the ones that notice if you're working solo, and offer to bring back a drink or a snack next time they visit the hospitality room. They also drop by during slack times in the customer rush and offer to watch your booth so you can take those desperately needed rest-room breaks. During quiet times, they also come to visit to see what you create, to share a few stories and swap some shop-talk, but as soon as a customer walks into your booth they disengage the conversation with a smile and a 'good luck'. When their friends drop by, they keep them in their own booth, and if they notice that their customers have drifted to block your frontage, they politely coax them to move.
They're the species of vendor that you wish you could be set up next to at every show. They're the ones with whom you share your secret stash of Godiva chocolates, or give a spare pen to when you notice they're grumbling in frustration at writing with their own. They're the ones who, while you have a friend watching your booth, you ask them if you can save them a trip and bring back anything when you hit the food vendors for lunch - and even if they say 'no thanks' you buy them a lemonade anyway just because they're nice people.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-12 12:39 am (UTC)You know well of what I speak, lol!
*the whiners - who never have anything good to say about the show, the crowds, the sales, etc. ('Gee, if you're *that* unhappy about everything, maybe you should find a new line of work')
I once set up at a show where one of the vendors swore (loudly) that she was going to sue the promoter for lack of sales. (Turns out the show was kind of a scam, but still, our fault for signing up.)
*the combative partners - whose time would be better spent in a couples therapy session or an anger management class instead of treating their vendor neighbors to yelling, screaming, swearing, tears, and other emo-drama.
Oh yes, I've seen this! I was next to a woman whose parents were helping her set up--she was verbally abusive to her father the entire time. And then once the show started, she was pleasant as punch.
*the party people - who come not to sell but gab with their crowd of friends...in front of your booth, rather than cluttering up their own.
ARGH! HULK SMASH! That makes me INSANE.
They're the ones who, while you have a friend watching your booth, you ask them if you can save them a trip and bring back anything when you hit the food vendors for lunch - and even if they say 'no thanks' you buy them a lemonade anyway just because they're nice people.
I love great vendors--they really are a special breed of person, y'know? Warm, friendly, funny, entertaining...and good-hearted. A good vendor is awesome.
*hugs*