Having met and had a good conversation with the owner of the bike shop in Gowanus, I figured it would be a great place to start shopping for Katie's bike.
I immediately began entertaining second thoughts when we walked in and were roundly ignored for five minutes, with the fellow I'd spoken to nowhere in sight. Finally, with the air of one who'd lost a bet, a large guy with the name "Reland" stitched on his bowling shirt put down his (obviously more important) work with a sigh, and lumbered sulkily over as if he were doing us a favor by deigning to speak with us at all.
He seemed aggressively indifferent to our plight, correcting our genuine ignorance with contempt and annoyance, acting as if he had much better things to do, and in general discouraging us from wanting to spend money in his establishment; from there he proceeded to try to sell us a brand called "Surly," which seemed entirely apropos.
I was no where in sight as I was in bed with the flu...my crew was very short-staffed (down myself and another sick staff member) on one of the nicest first Sundays of the year.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry your experience wasn't up to your standards, and your passage is a reminder that we can always get better.
(For those following along at home, the above is from the owner of the shop in question. As far as I know he's a very decent guy.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply. I hope you're feeling better.
I'm sure my experience was not characteristic, as my interaction with you personally was great. Your shop seems terrific in many other ways, and I wish you the best of luck.