Helenatrandom1 Habitica 01-08-2021

My feet are on fire, and my legs feel  as if they are made of bamboo,causing me to lean heavier on my cane. The elbows in my ribs and the boots kicking at my heals make me feel like l am in the middle of a Battle Royal instead of in line at Customer Service. But its my own fault. The day after Christmas is the dumbest day to return merchandise. If the woman behind me bumps me one more time, she is going to. find out why this is called Boxing Day! "Hello,welcome. I can take the next person in line, please..." "Merry Second Day of Christmas", I chirp. True, I am in a bad mood,but more flies with honey, right? "I need to return this robe and nightgown. I got it for Christmas and I don't think it is my style. ". "Do you have a receipt? "", the clerk sighs. "Well no...as I said, it was a gift...."" " We can exchange it today for other merchandise of an equivalent value, but no cash back without a receipt. " It's my turn to sigh. That means another match in the customer service line, but I don't want to return another day. I agree, and am pleasantly surprised when I am given a voucher, and told I can go through sales when I am ready. I have no need for elecronics, and most stores don't carry much supersize plus size clothing. Maybe I can find some slippers. I forge through the sweaters trying to get to my destination when I am confronted with a mirror. Wait a minute.. I'm not wearing a pegnoir set. Or am I? That's the same set I just returned! Didn't I? Is this a nightmare? I look down at myself and see that I am wearing the same velour tracksuit I thought I left the house in. Now what? This is embarrassing. In spite of the hair cut and middle aged ( if I am planning to be older than a hundred) lady costume, I do not live to give store staff a hard time. If anything, I want to be a bright spot in their day, but will settle for a boring, unmemorable moment in their hectic lives. And it's not like any of the managers have the authority to remove it, do they? I take a minute to walk around my doppelganger to get a look at her from all sides. Well, she is actually covered up quite a bit, considering that she is technically wearing lingerie. She looks quite nice. At least she's not wearing a teddy with fishnet stockings. And the clothes are clean, so it's not my worst nightmare on exhibition. But how? Why would someone want to embarrass me this way? I head toward the shoe section, still unsure about what I need to do and wondering why a store would choose to display a manneqin depicting a fat woman with frosted red hair, a coif social media hates, and a three pronged cane. My thoughts are scrambled when I hear my name squealed in the most adorable manner. "HELEN!!!! What a surprise! I wouldn't think you'd be out shopping until next week, when the mall is less crowded! " I turn around and face Mindy, my favorite cousin's daughter. She is such a sweetie! Ever since she was a little girl, she'd spend at least a few minutes with the older relatives at family gatherings, listening to our gossip and complaints. Now she is an adult and takes part in the conversation, actually seeming interested in the minutiae of our lives, and offering us practical assistance when she can, whether it's dying our hair in her grandma's kitchen, or reorganize our closets so that coordinating outfits are easily accessible. If I'd had a daughter, I'd want her to be just like her. "You're surprised to see me? Why aren't you in the main office doing important corporate things? Since when do you walk the floor? " "HELEN! Don't be a snob. Floor walking, sales, production, stocking, staging.... It's all important. If one isn't done right, it all falls apart." " True. But won't you be in trouble for not doing your actual job? " "But I am! Or, at least, I am making sure that the new promotion I developed is implemented properly at initiation.  Now that I finally got corporate to understand that we have been alienating a major sales demographic, I need to make sure that the display Is staged so it actually enhances sales instead of being a trainwreck! " " No one can criticize your sense of style, Sweetpea. Do you have time to tell me about it? " "Better yet, I'll show you, Cuz. Come on! " She turns me around and leads me away from the bunny slippers and back in the direction I came from. I hobble after her as fast as my three legs can carry me. I catch up to her when she teaches my evil twin. "What do you think?" Mindy queries. I stand looking from Mindy to Helen 2.0, absolutely gobsmacked. Almost thirty years ago, I bounced a colicky cherub on my knee while singing about five disobedient ducklings. She was turning into someone I was quite proud of.... Someone who I would emulate if I could go back in time. Why would she turn on me? My eyes fill with tears and I choke back a sob. She breathes a sigh of relief and hugs me. "I knew you'd love it! " Leaning on my cane harder than ever, I look at her mystified. "Did you now?" " Well I hoped that you would. I started second guessing myself around October, which is why she wasn't ready for our Christmas Season sales. The more time I spent designing her, the more she took on our familiy resemblance.  She looks like she could be your mom, doesn't she?  " Okay, I was starting to like her again. "You'd be surprised how the higher ups think! They thought they could put some padding and a gray wig on an existing mannequin, and they'd have a typical plus size middle aged woman, " Mindy guffawed. "And they want a mannequin depicting a woman of a certain age because.... " "Because if plus size matrons go unseen, so do the clothes we want to sell to them. Remember how I was teasing you at Nana's birthday party that you have been buying the same outfit since my kindergarten graduation? Then mom picked up my baptism photos from the shadow box, and I noticed that the brand new outfit you wore to the party looked just like the brand new outfit you wore then, but darker.  You explained how hard it is to find clothes in your size, and that the catalog models even for plus size companies usually have average size, young models, which make it difficult to imagine how the cut would lay on you, and if the design would make you look washed out with your changing hair color,so you stick with what you know.  I tried to convince you that we carried your size and would look great in some of our new fashions, but you couldn't picture it.  I bet you already returned the gift I gave you yesterday without even trying it on" she snorted while wagging her finger with a slight smirk on her face and a twinkle in her eye. Drat. I'm caught. I stand blushing and gaze at the floor. "I was afraid it wouldon't fit and that I'd tear it. The material had no give to it.  No stretchability...I couldn't return it if I ruined it. " "I get it, Cuz.  I thought maybe since only Cousin Bob would see it you'd try it on and take a baby step toward shopping for more becoming fashions, but there are other factors than visualization involved.  That's why I thought a three dimensional  representative would help.  So.... what do you think? " What do I think? I'm not sure I am completely comfortable standing toe to toe with a dead wringer every time I go shopping. Thinking about someone changing the outfit on the mannequin makes me feel downright twitchy. Oh no! What if the person changing the outfit is only halfway done before getting called away to help elsewhere? I think I'm going to be ill. I look at my darling cousin's precious, eager, hopeful face.

''Five little ducks went out to play Over the hills and far away Mommy duck says "Quack,come back!" Four little ducks come waddling back.

"Help me find another Pegnoir set ,Hon?"

I don't need those bunny slippers, anyway.