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The Window Dressers

When I was younger, and still going through that “hippy-hopping of jobs
to see what I really wanted to do in life” stage, I had a brief stint as a display person in an older department store. This was one of those places that was built in the 1940’s, and probably reached it’s heyday in the late 50’s & early 60’s. The great, brick behemoth, was located at the intersection of two major thoroughfares, and had a number of display windows facing the street on two full sides of the building. Hence, quite often we would find ourselves needing to come up with “full room window dressings”, showing off the current styles to passing car and foot traffic.

Access to the windows, was built into the original design of the store. They were very creative when placing doors (to the back of the window set-up areas), in a variety of places. Usually I found them in the back of a storage area, or through some dressing rooms, but one day I was completely stumped. I knew I was missing two side by side windows. After combing every square inch of those departments … twice, and walking outside to make sure I wasn’t delusional, I finally found the door.

It happened to be in the Men’s Suit Department. They had a large three panel mirror for the customers to use when trying on & modeling contemplated purchases. The middle panel (when pushed), became the door into the staging area. It was like solving a puzzle when I discovered it. I quickly dubbed it my “Through The Looking-Glass” window, and down the road, I laughingly surprised more than one customer by opening the door on their thoughtful posings.

Our manager, was a 50-something year old man who still lived with his mother. (The key word here is, … still.) He loved manikins, and used them profusely throughout the store. His favorite thing to do was paint new faces on his time worn collection, and we often found him happily in the basement with his army of silent friends. As a result, we were pretty much on our own when it came to changing the windows out. (Unless you needed a manikin.)

Now, I worked with two other display artists that had been doing this for quite awhile, so when it came time for me to do my first window, I decided to step back and watch them for pointers.

One was a short, rather loud young German, with a thick accent and a burley mustache. He was always in a hurry, and never seemed to relax, even if he was on break. The other was the exact opposite. He was a tall, middle-aged, family man, with a gentle face, and a slow but sure manner. I usually found him quietly humming as he worked, and he always greeted me with a friendly smile.

We had a discussion one day about work habits, and whether doing something “fast”, was the same thing as doing something “right”. Between the two of them, there was a complete difference of opinion.

The “burley mustache” was sure if you did things as quickly as possible, then you would have time to go along and take care of other business. Hence, you would be saving the company money. The “quiet hummer”, said if you took your time while you were working, then you would be less likely to make mistakes, and you would still be in a good mood at the end of the day.

Almost immediately, I had a chance to test their theories. Each of them was to start separate windows at the same time, so I watched them carefully, to see which had the better approach. (I didn’t tell them of the experiment, so that it wouldn’t influence the way they went about their jobs.)

The young German attacked his window like he was storming the Bastille, … all fury and flying fabric. Hurriedly grabbing a number of items, he headed for his window and started setting things up in a “Spring” theme. We rarely had specific pieces to show, so choosing the outfits and backdrop was left to our own discretion.

Throughout the day, I passed him several times just walking down the hallway, mumbling to himself. When I questioned him as to what the problem was, he just said the windows weren’t “working” for him, and he would have to try something else. (Turns out, he completely changed his window three different times before it “worked” for him.) By the end of the day, I couldn’t tell if he stopped because he was satisfied with his work, or was just too tired and frustrated to do it again.

My humming friend, on the other hand, had strolled through his departments, stopping and contemplating several items, … sometimes selecting them and sometimes not. You could almost hear the quiet ticking of his thoughts as he walked, just like the well made pocket watch he carried. He movements were deliberate, and his decisions were final. (His window was the same theme from the start, to the final product.)

I dropped in from time to time to check on him throughout the day, because usually when he disappeared into his window area, you didn’t see him again until it was finished. He was always glad to see me, and ready to stop and chat for a few minutes.

He happened to be working in the “Looking-Glass” windows, and he further built their notoriety with me, when he told me the story of the “sidewalk kibitzer”. It seems there was a little old lady, with the mandatory headscarf and heavy wool overcoat required in the blistery February winds, who was apparently waiting for a bus in front of the store. She had taken an interest in the creative process of my friend‘s work, and had come over to the window to closely watch what he was doing. (The equivalent of having someone stare over your shoulder at work.)

He ignored her for awhile, but eventually her scrutiny was beginning to irritate him, so he slowly worked his way over to where she was. When he was directly in front of her, he smiled to her, turned his back, … and bent over to fix something on the floor. (Due to the height of the platform, he was about 2’ higher than the woman.) It took the lady a few seconds to realize that, essentially, she was standing there looking at this guy’s butt. (At eye level.) Embarrassed, she moved over a few feet, but he would find something to “fix” over there, and again he would bend over in front of the now befuddled woman. She eventually walked off and left him, chuckling softly as he resumed his work.

At the end of the day, I assessed the results. Both windows had taken about the same amount of time to do, and both had good results, but the only one who was smiling and still in a good mood, was my quiet friend. He had patiently taken his time to do the project right the first time (instead of three different times), and was able to enjoy the creative process as he worked.

Their long ago example has many times reminded me, that a little planning and forethought, can save you a whole lot of grief in the long run. (And if you add a little laughter into the mix, … you’ll enjoy life a great deal more!)

Article Source: http://www.articlemap.com

About The Author: B. MacNichol is the award winning, premier poet of the frameable greeting card line - N Other Words , whose background includes Senior Engineering, Master Drafting, Journeyman Blacksmithing, and Farriery (horseshoeing). While spending her formative years in Missouri, she currently resides in the mountains of North Georgia, and is pursuing a professional writing career. To view additional samples of her work, please link to www.notherwords.com

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