Breaking the Rules

Dec 27, 2008 by mandeewidrick

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a pretty straight-laced kinda gal. I like excitement, but I always abide by the rules. Well, I found out yesterday while shopping that I do have a slightly naughty side. 

I was at Kohl’s, looking to use up over $30 in gift cards that I’d gotten for Christmas. After 15 minutes of browsing, I had looked and looked for something nice to catch my eye, but every top I tried on just wasn’t working for me. Sure, they were cute enough, but nothing that I felt would make a statement. 

As I began walking down the aisle in front of the jewelry counter, I happened to look up and spot the cutest  sweater. It was brick red, long, with buttons along the collar. I instantly made my way over to the wall, expecting more sweaters in the same style to be down at eye level. Well, no such luck; they were all hanging high. I looked around for a way to get one down since they were so obviously out of my reach. 

My eyes stopped on a long reaching hook nearby. Perfect! I breezed over and was about to grab it when I saw the sign:

For Employee Use Only: Please ask for assistance in reaching high merchandise

Darn it all!! Well, I wasn’t about to give up yet, so I took it upon myself to try to locate an employee. After five minutes of searching the department, I decided to come back in a few minutes after trying some other clothes on instead. I found a belt I liked along with some leggings, but I didn’t really like the tops I’d found. They just weren’t worth the money for me, I wandered back to the red sweater (which also happened to be on sale).

Once again, my eyes scanned the perimeter, not finding any employees in the immediate vicinity. The girls at the nearby cash registers were busy with backed up lines to be of any help. I apparently wasn’t going to get assistance any time soon. 

With a quick movement, I dashed over to the long hook, grabbed it in both hands, and lifted it high to get the sweater. What harm could be done? I worked in retail and was quite familiar with the procedure. 

I got the first sweater down and was ready to ditch the hook and run. But what do you know, it was an extra large and NOT my size. That meant I had to try again. (GRRRRR!!) I hung the XL on a rack near my waist; maybe I’d save someone else all the trouble I was currently going through by leaving it down where it could be reached. I lifted my arms with the hook again, this time luckily grabbing a medium. 

Woo hoo!! The devilish deed was done!! I put the hook back, avoiding eye contact with anyone around me. I felt the gaze of a nearby shopper following my movement and I held in a giggle. Oops. If anyone asked, I just didn’t see the sign. I could always pretend to be on my cell phone if anyone dared to confront me… 

So the moral of the story is this: If Plan A doesn’t work, there’s always a Plan B! (even if you have to break a little rule…)

And yes, I did buy the sweater.