Posted on 12/23/2018 1:06:25 PM PST by Pontiac
One evening when the son was growing up, the telephone in their home rang. The caller, with nervousness in his voice, asked for Robert Lazarus, who came to the phone.
The man, almost apologetically, said he and his wife had purchased a tea set at Lazarus. They had never owned one before, but saw it on display and decided it was something they would like to have in their home.
Robert Lazarus waited to hear what was coming next. Was there a flaw? Was a cup or saucer broken?
That wasn’t it. The man said he and his wife did not know the proper way to serve tea—how to make use of the tea set when company came over. They sensed there was an etiquette to it, but no one had ever told them what it was.
Some of Lazarus’s customers had very modest incomes; to them, that downtown store was almost a palace, a place of aspiration, even if they were only looking. The tea set had represented a step up, a significant expenditure for this man and his wife. And they weren’t quite sure how it was intended to be used.
So the husband called the man whose name was on the store—at home, at night—for advice.
Robert Lazarus, his son said, stayed on the phone with his customer and, with great care, walked him through the steps of having a tea party, of using an elegant tea set. He told the man stories about tea receptions he and his own wife had given; he answered every question.
I asked the son—by then an elderly man himself—if his dad had seemed at all bothered...
“Bothered?” the son said. “He couldn’t have been more pleased. He talked about it with great fondness for the rest of the night
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
“In my area they want 100% hardwood-—no one wants wall-to-wall anymore.”
Just showing my age I guess. :(
I haven’t paid attention to housing trends in quite a while. Just casual conversations with a couple of builders I know.
We had deliveries from G Fox, Sage-Allen, Lord & Taylor, and Brown Thompson in Ct when I was young.
My grandmother had her own buyer in most of the stores and they would call when there was merchandising and clothing that might appeal to her. All was sent in on trial and what she didn’t want was sent back. It was a different time.
“He was told that he could not do so as it was against the building code. Too small.
Now he could build condos or apartments that were half that size but not stand alone house where people could have little yards.”
Yet another reason I hate zoning laws and building codes.
The guy you worked for had a great idea. A community of like minded folks winding down. Maybe a smattering of couples getting started.
Too bad the bureaucracy shut him down.
There is a man building houses on the road my mom lives on.
Smallish two bedroom, living room, 1 1/2 baths with finished basements on 1.5 acres....starting price is $250,000. Kind of high for the area.
They are sold before he half completes one.
Hey, I can understand your dear old Dad. He worked HARD for his money! He expected a certain amount of respect and gratitude from those he spent his hard won wages with.
Retailers used to understand that and had their workers show that respect and gratitude.
Now? Now they act like they are doing you a favor by just being there.
There is no wonder Amazon and online retailing are kicking butt.
Yeah, there’s three in my neck of the woods and with one exception I’ve been very happy with ‘em. And their return policy is both a refund and a replacement, so I didn’t entirely mind the bad bag of oranges I got.
That doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m a rabid bookworm and dabble in Amazon publishing a tad, and the cluelessness of B&N never ceases to amaze me.
That doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m a rabid bookworm and dabble in Amazon publishing a tad, and the cluelessness of B&N never ceases to amaze me.
In the spirit of the season, I won’t argue, but I was actually thinking of clothing shopping; I did not make that clear.
When I was a working professional, and clothes shopping, it was much easier to have someone give you wardrobe ideas and suggestions, suited to your tastes b/c they knew you.
Have a wonder filled Blessed Christmas.
I love your tagline. Is that a quotation or did you create that beautiful thought yourself?
I could have searched of course and did, found that it’s an old Greek proverb. Very apropos to your former business!
We were looking for something at a Walmart recently. I asked a middle aged lady who stopped what she was doing and took us to where she thought it would be. It wasn’t there, so she found another employee who walked us to where the items were. So we had two employees willing to walk us to what we asked for, instead of pointing us in a general direction.
Lowes is good about walking you to your requested object - if you can find an employee to ask.
Tried that one time. It wasn’t at that location when I got there. Finally found someone to help, and it was an aisle over.
blam, are you a “you kids get off of my lawn” kind of guy?
Ha, ha. Could be.
Click on my name to see what's on my lawn.
Betting the lawn has lots of yellow marks and no kids footprints!! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas.
My lawn is one acre.
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