She's been out of school for a couple weeks on and off because of it and I haven't been able to drive because of my recent hysterectomy, so my constant trips to stop off at The Fresh Market (for those of you living here in Montgomery) on the corner of Vaughn Road and Eastern Blvd next to TJ Maxx. I love The Fresh Market - or as I call it "Fresh Market". I cook a lot of gourmet meals and their produce/meat selection, and above all, quality, is second to none in Montgomery...it's a wonderful place to shop if you are strictly buying food...and if you want that food to be top notch.
Today my husband went there to get us some things, and I don't know exactly the conversation, but they asked about me (and probably why they haven't seen me and my daughter every day like usual) and he told them about my operation and about my daughter being sick as well.
Then the manager did something extremely kind: he gave a bouquet of yellow roses to me and one of pink carnations to my daughter. (Nice blurry photos below...taking them at night doesn't help the clarity.) That was very sweet and I promptly phoned him up to thank him. You don't usually get that type of human interaction/contact in other stores I am sure. I've always told everyone I love the fact that I know who the meat people are by name, the cashiers by name, the managers by name, etc., and they know me. That's the way it should be...and touches like the flowers are evidence that places like this and caring customer oriented people like them still exist.
Again...thank you Fresh Market for hiring classy people who take the time to get to know their repeat customers and go that extra distance to make us feel special and respected.
It's nice that you have a market like this to go to. I have a market like this to go to as well, but, to be honest with you, I don't want to be on a first name basis with the butchers, the produce people, the cashiers, or the managers. Just a pleasant greeting, maybe some comments on the weather, an attempt by me to charm the attractive checkout clerk by making an inane observation about how I came up just short of the ten item limit, these little encounters are more than sufficient. I really don't want to get to know these people. They're all fine people I'm sure, and maybe I'm being selfish and rude, but I don't want to feel obliged to call them by name and stop to have a chat every time I see them in the store. I just want to pay for my stuff, pick up the receipt with my change, tell them thank you but I don't need any help out to my car, and head for home. On the downside they're never going to send me flowers, but, Jeez, I already have people in my life to send me flowers. You're right, though, with places like this high on the endangered species list it really is nice to know they still exist, and even nicer to have one to go to even though we differ in how we benefit from the experience.
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