After a hard days work I decided to call by the local shopping centre to pick up a few bits for upcoming birthdays and soon to visit family. Now I don't shop often and I certainly don't spend much time in shopping centres so I decided that as I was making the trip anyway I would pop into H&M and see what they had.
I tend to stay away from H&M in the UK simply because the shop floor is a disorganised mess. In my experience the clothes racks are packed too close together creating narrow aisles that shoppers have to slide sideways between to pass one another. Furthermore, the clothes are not organised collectively resembling something like a jumble sale and there are so many items on one rail that it is almost impossible to take an item of choice off without pulling another 5 items off with it. Did I also mention how the clothes hangers don't face one direction? This along with crowds of seasoned shoppers trying to find a bargain in an already ridiculously cheap shop doesn't bode well for a successful and happy shopping trip. H&M in Norway however is a different story and is a much more bearable experience and on a sunny evening such as this one it is especially quiet.
Once in H&M I wandered around the shop floor and collected a number of items that caught my eye. I made my way to the changing room and I tried on the items and quickly made 3 piles; yes, no and need to try a different size. I headed out of my cubicle with the 'to change pile' and found the shop assistant folding up clothes at the entrance to the changing room. In my poor Norwegian I tried to explain that I was on my way out to get some new sizes but I had left my 'yes pile' of clothes in my changing room along with my personal belongings. I wasn't sure whether I had misunderstood her strange dialect but I thought she'd told me to put my clothes back on the rail. I was a little suprised and thought it a stange request from a shop assistant. I put it down to bad translation and as I was going back to the racks anyway it was no big deal for me to take them with me. Yes, I surely had misunderstood....
Following the second session in the changing room I was in the possession of a very large 'yes' pile. I carefully put the 'no's' back onto their hangers and along with the items to buy thrown over my arm I headed out. On my way past the shop assistant I paused and expected the girl to take the clothes I wasn't to buy from me but instead I was met with the same phrase as previously and this time I caught it 'Kan du ta de tilbake' which translates to 'Can you take them back'. I was again suprised but this time I promptly told her no.
I consider myself to be a polite and courteous person but I do expect things to be done a certain way. Is this a sign of getting older? A shop assistant is there to assist shoppers and I expect them not only to put clothes back but also to assist in getting other sizes. At what point did the customer have to start doing the shop assistants job? Is this a sign of the times or do I have to admit that I am conservative in nature?
A quick poll over lunch showed that although I did have some support on my feelings it certainly was not universal. One of my more avid supporters gave an interesting analogy 'It's like being asked in a restaurant by the waiter to pass your dishes down the table'. I wouldn't like that either.
If you have bothered to read this far then I would invite you to take part in my poll.
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