When Customers Cry

The world of retail can occasionally be quite dramatic. We see some crying here at Joie de Vivre - but until this weekend, almost all of it was the under five set. Some of them tend to get quite emotional when they can't go home with the penguin race, or a wind-up toy, or a mouse puppet. Some of them burst into tears just because they don't want to leave the store - which is actually quite a compliment when you think of it - (we'll ignore the possibility that it's more of a power struggle with Mom than a genuine love and appreciation of Joie de Vivre.) Anyway, this weekend we experienced a more sobering kind of crying - an adult woman who decided she wanted an item another woman had just bought. Unfortunately, we had no more - though we told her we could order more. She stood in front of the desk for a good ten minutes struggling with her emotions and yes, crying a little. We didn't really know what to do. But the story does have a happy ending. She returned the next day with her husband and bought a few thing and seemed fine. She never mentioned the item that broke her heart the day before, much to our relief!