So I got to thinking that my previous post crept perilously close to "Everything was better in the good old days" territory.

And while I think you could make a case that the retail shopping experience isn't what it used to be, it would be nuts to suggest that every store employee was a ball o' fire back in the day.

One of my wife's first jobs was at a department store. And she remembers witnessing something over and over that made her shake her head.

An experienced clerk talking to a customer on the phone would say that the store was out of some item of apparel or whatever. Then the clerk would offer to check with the chain's other stores in the metro area.

After putting the customer on hold, the clerk would then visit for a minute or so with another clerk about the weather, the problem with men or whatever.

Then she would get back on the phone and tell the customer that everyone seemed to be out of the item in question.

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