I work in a non-profit art store one day a week. I also work in my Torpedo Factory studio three days a week. The pay isn't great in either place.
In my studio, I hope to encourage random people to become patrons of the arts. Wearing my other hat in the Art League store, I serve students and artists . "Miracle on 42nd street" left a deep impression. If we don't carry an item, or I think another store has a better selection, I tell the buyer. For fourteen years, I have supplied the customers with dark Hershey kisses. My co-worker Diane once opined, "I know why you give out chocolate. It's so they won't think you're mean." I was stunned. "Why would they think I'm mean?"
Apparently, though I have a generous heart, it is hidden within the body of a curmudgeon. So be it. I think I'm nice to most everyone. It isn't always easy. Working in retail has certainly made me a much nicer customer elsewhere.
This week's two-hatter dilemma was a phone call in the store. A man said he and his wife had been looking for a big piece of art (Yes! I thought as an artist). But now they decided that they would just paint it themselves. (Boo, hiss.) And, he wanted advice on how to do it. He already had the supplies, there was no money to be made for the store.
But I helped him anyway. No chocolate was involved
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