MISFIT
Chip and Pin F
or some years now we have been contributing to the RNLI via a box strategically placed by the till where customers who wish to do so can put their change. Every few months we empty the box, take the coins to the bank (they do love us for this) and send a cheque to the RNLI.
We chose the RNLI after months of trial and error with other boxes. It all
started when our senior sales, a lady much devoted to cats, I believe she had nine of them at the time, asked if we could have such a box to raise money for a local cats’ home. This seemed an innocuous idea to me, so the box arrived and was put in place. At which the storm broke. I was attacked on all fronts. Cats were apparently vicious animals who ate nice little dickie birds,
“the practice of neutering innocent moggies isn’t right”. “Everyone knows cats can look after themselves so they didn’t need charity, what about the Battersea Dogs’ Home?”, “Why were we not raising money for people – people come before cats, don’t they?”. I had no idea there were so many people who were passionate about animals out there. Some of them were bordering on nuttiness. Bearing in mind that whatever I thought of their opinions and mental health these people constituted our esteemed clientele, the Cats’ Home box went. However, I still thought the principle of having a box to eat up the
customers’ loose change for charity was a good one, so I cast about for some less controversial organisation to support. One by one they came and were blown out of the water. With every client/colleague having a different view or opinion on why each box should or shouldn’t be there. And so it went on, to the point where I and the business were going to
pot because of a simple box. It was like living in the pages of a bad novel. Fortunately I do not have to concern myself with the opinions,
eccentricities and general eccentricities of my customers, only with their feet and their wallets, something I tried to keep in the forefront of my mind during this difficult period. In the end I hit on a charity that made
everyone happy, which was the RNLI. Everyone valued the thought of men of steel leaping out of their beds at four o’clock in the morning to rescue the crews of freighters driven on to the rocks by stormy seas must be worth supporting, so peace broke out. Until last week when a disgruntled
customer started to rave about this box…. In any case with the advent of chip and pin the volume of change has diminished drastically, so I’ll just do a direct debit to ease my conscience against the time when I get swept out to sea off Bournemouth and have to be rescued by the lifeboat. It did raise the whole matter of extra-
curricular activities though. We get involved in fashion shows, along with a nearby ladies’
14 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • AUGUST 2010
www.footweartoday.co.uk
clothing shop, which raise money for charity. Apart from my feelings of inferiority because they are so superior, fashionwise, to us, I leave the choosing of the charity to them, but I do wonder if it is worth it, bearing in mind the time and trouble involved. It does not seem to bring in much business and I am getting somewhat narked by the increasing range of shoes they seem to be stocking. I didn’t mind it when they ran a few selected styles to complement certain of their lines, but lately they seem bent on becoming a competitor. We also sponsor, would you believe it, a football team. Not, I hasten to
add, anything to do with the league or the world cup, but a kids’ team. I occasionally wonder if I am not setting some poor little innocent on the road to football stardom, with all that involves: drink, promiscuity, untold wealth, adulation and groin injuries. If that were to happen, improbably, they would most likely, remember our support, if at all, only for its paltriness. On the other hand, what I have given to the little footballers over the years would not pay for a new carpet, and you never know but that the bread I have so carelessly cast upon the waters will not come back in the form of a famous footballer endorsing us in some way in years to come. Having our name on their shirts is supposed to be good public relations,
increase our standing in the community and be good for business, but I do sometimes wonder if this shoemaker should not stick to his last and concentrate on buying and selling shoes, which is supposed to be what it is all about. At least charities do not come begging for shoes to use as prizes
because shoes come in sizes and styles which suit some people and not others. I once gave a voucher for a raffle prize which resulted in an hour wasted by the lady who won it who went through our entire range making disparaging remarks before demanding the money in lieu. Never again. Come back Scrooge, all is forgiven.
With the advent of chip and pin the volume of change has diminished drastically, so I’ll just do a direct debit to ease my conscience against the time when I get swept out to sea off Bournemouth and have to be rescued by the lifeboat.
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