Baby Steps

I have a hard time interacting with people, especially strangers.  I think that today, however, I did really well in that arena.  I am in the process of separating from my husband, which in and of itself is difficult enough.  Today I went shopping for furniture for my new apartment.

In the first store, I had an appointment with the sales guy.  As soon as I walked in the door, several sales people offered to assist me.  C, my salesman, came over pretty quick.  I showed him pictures of the furniture I had to work with, and he showed me things that might work in my new space.  He spent two hours helping me.

This meant two hours of trying to make conversation with someone I didn't know well enough to even fake looking in the eye.  I think I did OK.  I managed a couple of foreheads, an ear, and an eyebrow.  But mostly I just looked at his name tag.  Still, this was progress for me.  I mean, I would have preferred to webchat and somehow test this furniture out without ever going in the store.  So I did pretty good.

The next store was easier, as it was a second hand store, and one of my favorite charity based thrift shops.  (think red kettle and tinkling bell)  I was kind of bummed when I got home, looked at the pictures I took, and realized that I wasn't imagining a smell in the store.  The smell was coming from the recliner that was such a great deal.

The next store was on the smaller side, so I wasn't there as long.  The salesperson was an older than me female.  For some reason, I feel a little more comfortable with women about my mom's age.  So that store wasn't too taxing.

The last store was a huge discount store.  Lots of customers, but also lots of salespeople.  In all of the previous stores, someone waited on me right away.  In this store, it took 15 minutes for someone to come along, and when I told him I wasn't make the purchase right that second, he told me to come back when I was ready to buy.

Even though the first store was the biggest ordeal, I think I will be getting my furniture there.  There's something to be said for a salesperson who is nice to you.  To be clear - I am aware that it is his job, and he is paid to be nice to me.  The point would be that he did it.

It tired me out, but I am glad that I had this little excursion today.  Baby steps may be small, but eventually, they will get me where I am going.