夢: 經營鞋店

在第一個夢中，我和四個朋友一起受聘到似乎是鞋業集團工作，而我們是各人經營/管理一間獨立的鞋店，這是一家處於弱勢的鞋業集團，面對強大對手的競爭，它似乎是一點辦法都想不出，或者我們就是因此而來工作，就是要令它起死回生，要我們不負衆望，試問誰人又有這樣的本事呢?
不過這家鞋業集團也真是經營不善的，我的這間第一天開門營業就有客人來要求換鞋，我一時想不出有什麼方法去應對就問經理，因為似乎退換就代表鞋業集團的出品有問題，而不退就令客人更加不滿。以為總/分經理有什麼綿妙計，想不到他竟然告訴我在這樣的情況下可以耍無賴，說這鞋不是在這裏買或者是貨品出門、恕不退換，我以為這樣是不對的，鞋業集團要童叟無欺才能建立在客人心目中的信譽，而且對方處於強勢可以店大欺客，也不愁沒有生意做，我方是處於弱勢就更加要誠實。不過經理就反駁我說其實現在每間公司都是如此，做人不可以太幼稚、天真，死守書本教的原則。我拗不過經理，只好厚着臉皮照辦，說來奇怪的是，我好像是一個人兩個角度，既是顧客亦是店員。我們的對話如下:
「先生，穿過的鞋是不能換的，怎知道是你穿壞還是它出廠是就是不良產品?」
「有無搞錯，你們這家鞋店竟然售買其他客人穿過的鞋?我怎知道這對鞋不是你穿過的，弄壞了就算在顧客頭上?」

Me and four of my friends are hired to work in a chain store for shoes something like Payless Shoes. This chainstore face stiff competition and is struggle to survive. Somehow the manager are looking up to us as some kind of savior for the company, which I don't have a cue how to do that.

However, to demonstrate the situation we are in, and the quality of their merchandise, the first day I work in the shoe shop a customer walk in and ask for exchange for a new pair of shoe. I am at a lost of how to respond, since he is the first customer of today and if I accept his request that would mean bad start for MY SHOP, however, if his request is fair and I refuse then that would give my shop a poor reputation. Since we are the weaker side, we can't afford ruining our reputation further. So I call the manager, explain the situation and my thoughts about it, then ask him how to handle that.

I thought since he has much more experience than me, he know a way out, a means of not offending the customer while preserving the reputation of the company. I am least expected when he ask me to REFUSE the request to exchange a new pair of shoes. When I ask why, he said I am being too honest, being both naive and idealistic, since every chainstore did the same thing to the customer. How could we be criticized for doing the same? We are not better than them, nor we are worst than them by doing such a thing. The reality of Life sometimes require dishonesty and cheating(Reality bites?) and deception.

My conservation with the customer is philosophical in a sense, since that debate can never be resolved by pure logic(without the reference to physical reality). It is as follow:
Me: How could you brought a pair of shoes that you had use before for exchange?How could we know if that pair of shoe is damaged in manufacturing process or damaged by your (improper) usage?
Him: What the fuck, you shoe shop sell shoes that has being used by the shop keeper?How could I know that this pair of shoe has not used by you beforehand? And how could I distinguish between the damage done by you or done by the manufacturing process?