And so i was on top of the ladder and suddenly,
"Excuse me, can you help me please?"
I slowly and hesitantly went down the ladder to approach these endearing elderly couple. The old lady asked, "Where are your blinds?"
I quickly pointed the location of our window treatment department. Before they proceeded, the man asked me in a slurry voice,
"Do you have ..rrr oil?"
"I'm sorry?" I replied?
"..arrr oil??" He repeated a little perturbed.
"Oh, wood oil? We have wood oil for furniture. Yes!"
"Carr oil!! Carrr oilll!!!" he yelled at my face looking at me like I am idiotic while simulating driving a steering wheel.
(Okay, so my whole design career flashed right in front of me. My internship at Parron-Hall. My first design assistant position at V.J. Lloyd's Design Studio. Those glamorous days at showcase homes. My four years in the model home industry. My visual merchandising with a contemporary showroom. And then this? I am standing in front of an impatient man screaming at my face looking for a motor oil inside a home furnishing store.)
So I composed myself and cautiously replied,
"Oh motor oil! I'm sorry, we don't carry motor oil." ... "But we carry livestock!"
* * *
I went ahead and blogged this story of mine against a good friend's advice to be especially careful when it involves your work. I thought maybe i share this experience because i already went full circle with my life's hills and valleys. I would not say that i had my early success and i would not say that i am a failure. I have been in places from "high brows" to "pedestrians" and it's been a priveledge to live in both worlds. I know where i came from and i know for sure where the roads lead to.
Collectively to put things in perspective, what happened the other day is something that i will always relive and laugh at. And by the way, everything that happened was true except for the livestock!