Growing up, my family frequented a local fruit market. The owners, wrinkly and sweet like the raisins heaped in cardboard cartons lining the windowsills, spoke broken English and handed out pretzel rods to all us kids. Their grown children bustled about ringing up totals on brown paper bags, throwing in a handful of jellybeans if they deemed us worthy.
My brother and I were always worthy.
Although off-limits, I usually tried to wander into the back room and pet the gorgeous Doberman Pinscher who kept watch over the empty crates and baskets. My mom would catch me, scold me with her eyes, and I would fall back into step behind her.
Luscious red tomatoes, CHECK!
Delicious green apples, CHECK!
Celery I would later refuse to eat, CHECK!
This place had everything my younger self loved: fresh everything, jelly beans, a doggy, and, best of all, family values. When they closed at the end of each season, it was unclear as to what we regulars were mourning more: the end of summer, or the long months ahead that we would have to endure without “our” Fruit Market.
Years marched on, but the Fruit Market remains a constant in our community.
Recently, a woman set up a new shop mere miles down the road from our beloved Fruit Market. She, too, touted her red tomatoes and delicious apples. Her market, being housed indoors, was open for business all year-round. Despite feeling like a traitor, my kids and I stopped in to check her out.
Sure, the produce wasn’t bad. Less expensive than the grocery store. And oooh! Fresh, still warm bread. Okay, not too shabby new lady in town.
But then she started speaking.
She couldn’t complete a sentence without throwing something derogatory in about the Fruit Market while comparing her place to theirs. Prices, selection, quality. And then she started in on the people. I wasted minutes of my life that I will never regain listening to her tell me how she treats her customers better (via special pricing and sales, obviously) and went so far as to discuss the health problems of one of the Fruit Market owner’s.
Umm…no.
Ring up my order, shut your piehole, and gimme my change.
I went home and bit into one of the evil queen’s apples. It was either sour or it was just my attitude after being accosted with negativity all the while trying to pay for my purchases and not lose a kid in the process.
Never will I understand the kind of person who has to put others down in order to boost herself up. I see it every day in regular interactions, in the comments of online articles, among “friends.”
What happened to common courtesy? Kindness? Respect? Until the Fruit Market opens up in a few months, I will gladly shell out a few extra dollars at the chain grocery store. Especially because I was less than impressed with the new lady’s quality.
I don’t remember jelly beans. You got jelly beans?! Well this is all very disappointing news.
How do you not remember the cinnamon jelly beans?!!!!!!!!!
Some people are so insecure that they just need to tear others down to build themselves up. If you’re better it will show; you don’t have to go around telling everybody. For example, whenever I destroy my nephew at HORSE you don’t hear me bragging I just lay the smack down and go about my business.
That’s just the thing, dear brother: if you’ve gotta tell everybody you’re so great, you’re probably not that great. Why do I think we’re talking about the same person?
Congrats, by the way, on beating a 4 y/o at a basketball game 😉
He’s almost 5.
Don’t remind me. 🙁
I came across this on twitter, somehow, and it is such a great metaphor for how those of us in agriculture feel! We’re just farming on, doing what we’ve always done (improving our farms and food with technology and science) and some other, new farmer (or restaurant) who thinks they’re doing it so much better than us, vocally tells the world about it!
Except, in our story, it seems like everyone’s buying into the “New Fruit Market’s” philosophy. 🙁
That probably made no sense to you, but as someone entrenched in farming and passionate about sharing the positive aspects of today’s agriculture, it made sense to me. 🙂
Well hey there, Katie! I’m bowing down to you and your fam for fighting the good fight. I’ll come to your “fruit market” any day!!!!!!!!!!
Ah yes….nothing quite like grilled fresh veggies on a 74 degree spring day. Or perhaps the squirt of watermelon exploding into your mouth on one of those humid scorchers. Sure beats the -35 wind chills of January and less than flavorful california strawberries @ $5.99 per small package.
“The squirt of watermelon exploding into your mouth…”
That’s all I have to say about that.
Business isn’t just about product. People want to buy from those they respect. I’m sorry new fruit lady was so bitter, but I’m glad you learned it early on. Finding out that information later would have left an even worse taste in your mouth. She probably doesn’t even have jelly beans.
You got that right: even if her product had been the same or better, I couldn’t go back there. She was a real wench with ZERO jelly beans.
Yelp will reveal the truth. Her days are numbered!
You’re so adorable to think anyone ’round these parts knows what Yelp is 😉
Lift up, lift up, lift up. It’s not just an exercise…it’s a philosophy. Lovely piece.
You’ve no idea how happy I get when I see that you’ve commented on something I’ve written. You’re, like, Yoda. My lady writer Yoda.
I unfortunately ‘get why’ people do this… I just absolutely loathe it and wish it would just STOP. But it won’t- because there will always be bitter people that don’t like the world they live in, and most often don’t like themselves either. It seems to have passed the test of time- and now more than every, it is almost a fad. Probably because our entire culture is so damn shallow at this point, that shallow interaction is based on the level of depth we live.
I steer clear as best I can of those kinds of meanies. They aren’t worth my time.
I think you’re right, Chris; it’s about low self-esteem, but I can’t wrap my brain around the reasoning behind making someone else, an innocent bystander, feel bad about himself. We have people in our lives that do this and it’s just…sucky. Yes, sucky!
Sorry about the typos! 😉 I’m sure you get my point! Good for YOU for holding true to your values- and I LOVE that your bro never got the cinnamon jelly beans. LOL
Yeah, I don’t know where the heck he was while I was chowing down 😉
I too would rather pay more for goods if the service is better.
I don’t care whether the prices are cheaper if people are negative I don’t shop there – may explain why we are broke 😉
I even find myself gravitating to the happy jolly ladies at the supermarket checkout instead of those that don’t engage with you when you are going through their till. Somedays I wish I was a checkout lady – I would have soooo much fun.
I have thought about becoming a check-out lady, too! I say when we retire, we bump the mean bitches and show them what service with a smile looks like 😉
Steph! This is so right-on-the-nail (I don’t think this is really a phrase, sorry, it just popped into my head. Anyway, I love, love, love this sentiment. Sharing now. Thanks for being eloquent and putting such an important truth into words.
🙂
Yes! This is fantastic. I wonder what that other owner would say if she knew she lost your business because of her negativity. I wish people understood that when they feel the need to sling mud at other people, they’re really only making themselves look bad. Such a great post, mama!
I feel like I should tell her she sucks. Should I tell her she sucks? Because she sucks.