Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, there was a Queen'’s Lady in Waiting who loved to knit. She searched high and low for the highest quality yarns. She searched out the very best prices (so as not to bankrupt the queendom). She told everyone she knew about the joys of knitting. She dreamt of fibers in all the colors of the rainbow.
What the Queen'’s Lady in Waiting most enjoyed was going to her LYS (local yarn store, for the uninitiated) to meet and greet with other knitters and to check out the latest and greatest fibers. It was important to her that she support her LYS because a good LYS is sometimes hard to find. So, she shopped there, and she told her knitting ladies in waiting friends to shop there. She spread their name far and wide, whenever and wherever she could (without their asking), so that the LYS might even enjoy more success.
One day, the Queen'’s Lady in Waiting went to her LYS to see what she could see. And she found a gorgeous Hanne Falkenberg kit that she had not seen a sample of before. Her LYS did not actually have a sample of the sweater to try on, but she was interested anyway, and decided to put the kit on hold so she could think about it. The price was dear, but worth it.
Being the savvy Lady in Waiting that she was she went home and did a little research on the Internet. The Prince had her hooked up with a cable connection. She found that if she ordered the exact same kit from Far, Far Away that she could actually save the crown over $100. Thus, she called back her LYS and told the fair young maiden there that she would not need to keep the kit on hold. She did this within 24 to– 48 hours in consideration of the LYS, so that perhaps, though they had not sold it in months, that they might be able to sell it to someone, anyone.
Sadly, the young maiden at the LYS forgot to tell the owner, Lady Dragon, of the LYS immediately that the Lady in Waiting would not be taking the kit. Lady Dragon then became enraged when she read the Lady in Waiting'’s blog and found out that she dared save $100 by shopping elsewhere. She huffed and puffed and the fair young maiden who worked for her suggested to the Princess that she not come to the LYS for a while.
The Lady in Waiting was saddened by this because she thought that she had a good relationship with the LYS and that Lady Dragon would be the recipient of the majority of her knitting dollars. Surely to be upset over $100 seemed rather silly? Nonetheless, the Lady in Waiting soon became busy with other things. She continued to promote the LYS when she had a chance and she went about her daily Lady in Waiting business.
One fine autumn day, the Lady in Waiting was home with her Prince Charming and she thought, tonight would be a lovely night to pay a call on the fair young maiden at the LYS and to see some fellow yarn addicts. So, she packed up a bag full of yarn that she had purchased months and months ago at the LYS (they had a strict policy that on open knit night, you must knit with something you purchased at their store), she got in her carriage and parked her horses as close as she could get to the store.
The Lady in Waiting didn'’t get a very friendly reaction from Lady Dragon, but Lady Dragon'’s husband, as kind as always, greeted her nicely. And the young maiden was happy to have her join the group of ladies knitting.
The evening progressed. The Lady in Waiting decided to purchase around $100 worth of yarn that night to increase the size and scope of the project she was working on (the yarn purchased from the LYS, lo those many months ago). And the discussion turned to gauge.
The fair young maiden said that she thought that Addi turbo needles required one to decrease a needle size in order to get the proper gauge. The Lady in Waiting was surprised to hear this, but was glad to have the information. Lady Dragon, sitting fairly near to the young maiden (who was graciously helping someone with their knitting), said aloud, "“I don'’t like Addi'’s"” and then more quietly to her consort, "“Kind of like I don'’t like you."” The consort said, "“Me?"” And then Lady Dragon cocked her head in the direction of the Lady in Waiting.
The Lady in Waiting was stunned. Had she not looked up from her knitting, she would have thought that she merely misunderstood what Lady Dragon had said. But, her meaning was clear with the cock of her head. She didn'’t like the Lady in Waiting and that was that.
The Lady in Waiting, not knowing what else to say wondered aloud how anyone could be so rude. She calmly placed her needles down in her valise bid the fair young maiden and the kindly husband goodnight, and rode back to her castle.
Upon reflection, the Lady in Waiting realized, that truly, no good deed goes unpunished. Though the Lady in Waiting felt that she had been a loyal customer and promoter of her LYS, obviously for people like Lady Dragon, that was not enough. Certainly, she had heard from other customers how rude Lady Dragon could be, but the Lady in Waiting wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all wasn'’t Lady Dragon a businesswoman? And as such, isn'’t customer service let alone basic decency important to her?
These be dark times indeed.
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15 comments:
Ugly Fword her. That's all I can say.
Her loss is another, friendlier yarn store's gain.
Also good for you for standing up for yourself and leaving. She crossed a boundary she shouldn't have and you called her on it.
Wow. This is so shocking to read, esp. as I'm lucky with a somewhat close lys whose staff is always kind.
I'd say thanks ladies, but you know, it's just a fairy tale. :)
Sounds like this LYS owner has REALLY forgotten the cardinal rule that the customer is always right. This LYS owner does not deserve to be in business and if she continues to act like a nasty witch (with a B) and she will soon find herself out of business. Maybe she should turn over the operation of the LYS to the nice employee and the Dragon Lady's husband?
My LYS owner is quite the Jekyll and Hyde. Sometimes she is sweet and interested in your knitting and willing to help out a poor lost soul who is attempting a pattern way beyond her comprehension. Other times she scowls from the back, hissing if you get too close and looks at you as though you are not good enough for 99 cent kitchen cotton.
After a few run-ins with her I am an internet orderer with Michaels to keep me in impulse projects. I refuse to support the craziness.
My, my, my! The Dragon Lady does hold a grudge for a long time. Well, she cannot be a happy person with that attitude. How fortunate that the princess does not have to live with the Dragon Lady. BTW, I love a fairy tale and yours was very well written.
Wow-
Did you go "over the Mountain"
to visit the LYS??
I have to say Mrs. LYS has a reputation for not being very nice.
Shame, shame...can't be good for buisness!?
I will be sure to "share" this fairytale with many, many others!!
Sounds like you might be a little paranoid. There were other people there that evening and the events that you stated were not metioned towards you. Maybe you are feeling a little guilty.
Anonymous accuses Blogger of being paranoid? I don't get it, people should treat each other nicely, especially those dealing with the public. If the Dragon Lady cannot be nice to her customers maybe she needs to find another line of work where she isn't dealing with the public on a daily basis. Blogger did conceal the real idenity of the Dragon Lady so maybe Anonymous is the one who is paraniod? Hurray for Blogger for allowing an open discussion on this subject. There are several LYS I will not return to due to poor customer service and the LYS owners should be aware how their behavior impacts their profits.
Even if anonymous is correct and the said comments was not said to you, Mrs. LYS should not have said this at all. It was completely inappropriate to say at an event with lots of people. As for feeling guilty, what do have to feel quilty about. You saved $100 dollars which you were able to spend at the LYS. I would have purchased it online to save that much money myself.
Glad this LYS is not close to me.
This was very funny. You should also be proud of the way you expressed your opinion while avoiding identifiers. It is unfortunate that you have recieved so much undeserved critical attention.
Folks need to remember that this is a blog, the Queen's Lady in Waiting's blog in fact. It is absolutely her right to vent about whatever she wants. She had an experience that she wanted to share. If you don't like it, don't read it. That's the beauty of a blog.
move on already.
Very entertaining, albeit sad, story. For something that never happened, it certainly seems as if some people are getting awfully worked up about it. Me thinks they doth protest too much...
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