Naomi Darvell wrote:

> At both the places I buy expensive cheese, they seem to deal with this by
> having an areas devoted to pre-wrapped pieces that are on the small side, just
> a few ounces. They are handy to grab if you need something for a lunch or
> something. Would that work at your place?


That's impossible to say. I keep thinking of what works at
medium-service, medium-expensive stores. The rest of the staff does
too. We're not talking bargain-basement; we're talking middle of the
road. I like the idea of something prepackaged and ready to go. The
boss has the idea that we're full service. Everyone gets individual
attention before making a purchase. If you buy a quarter pound of
cheese, you still taste 5 or more and get treated as though choosing
that one cheese was the most important thing in the world. Every cheese
is cut fresh from the wheel and weighed for the customer.


Personally, I wouldn't mind having a few packets pre-weighed and ready
to go, but I think my boss is afraid that would make it look like the
whole song and dance surrounding the conversation, the information about
cheese, the careful listening to what the customer likes and doesn't
like and whom they're entertaining and what they're serving and what
wine they're buying, like none of that matters.


In any case, I just got back from work, and I had a great day. The
place was packed with people, and they were all happy. They were
running into old friends in the aisles, talking and hugging, making
plans. The cheese just flew out of there. I was busy every second
selling, weighing, entertaining, running into the back kitchen to
package more items. The funniest part of the day involved the extra
help. There were 2 men I'd never seen before helping out, but it was
obvious that they were wine experts helping customers. There was also a
teenager I'd never met hanging out and washing a few dishes. When I got
busy and needed something washed, he was in front of the sink so I
handed him the container and said "we've never met, but would you wash
this?" And he said sure. He did a good a job; I was impressed. Later
it turned out that he was the son of one of the extra wine guys, just a
friend of the family who showed up and cheerfully did what he was told
by some total stranger wearing an apron. This is so different from the
boss's youngest daughter who is 14 and smack in the middle of her
"difficult" years. I feel so awkward asking her to do anything though
the boss has specifically told the parttimers that his family is there
to help. A few times I've given her specific instructions and have been
flatly refused. So today was different and great. We were all so busy
that we worked together beautifully though we'd never even met.


--Lia