now why Red Wing as the title?

This saturday, family was out buying boots for our year end holiday and among the shops we were looking at, there was a shop that really caught my eye, Red Wing boots look really nice, classic is the word! they actually have a long-standing shop at Suntec Tower 2 so you should totally check it out mannnn :P they sell such awesome boots!! i have no idea why, but by the name of impulse, i bought the red in colour boots! okay its not shocking red so its perfectly fine, neither is it blood red that looks as though i soaked it in somebody's blood. The salesman had streaks of white hair peppered around his head, and when i heard him speak, he seemed to have been working there for a long time! really really familiar with his products, and someone who enjoys his current job! there are FEW singaporeans now who actually "enjoy" being a salesman. even though i was kinda sceptical on buying a pair of Red Wing boots, since i already have a waterproof high-cut shoe, and Red Wing is really pricey, his warm gestures and humble heart made me more receptive to buying a pair! nahhh he wasnt those sort who continues to push for his product, but rather he gets the joy of watching his customers enjoy the shoes that they buy from him! in fact, given the time when i was in the shop, there were at least a good three returning customers, all who really took pride and care in maintaining their shoes, making sure they last long. This salesman's name is BEN. Some were also asking for more advice on how to do so properly, etc etc! Its seldom that you walk into a shop and get to experience such customer service and actually see customers and sales people interacting so well with each other huh? especially so in singapore. Frankly speaking, even though i kinda frequent the Suntec City area, since my church is there and also because last time carrefour was there, i always walked past this store but never took a step in before. how could i possibly miss something so good all these years?!

Bro wasnt even keen on buying any of the shoes at all, and he has really broad feet, making it really hard to find a shoe that actually fits him comfortably! not to mention, dad was constantly shoving all kinds of weird designs to him, (there were really few designs so he pretty much showed everything lololol) but you know what? instead of pushing for any designs to my brother, Ben actually measured bro's feet size first, to find a boot design that would comfortably fit him! see the feet size, the width, before choosing a design for him. He actually discouraged my parents from buying a pair after dad thought it would be a good idea to buy a pair of safety boots for bro. Yes you heard me right, he actually discouraged us to buy his shoes!, because he knows that bro wouldnt like that pair of boots that dad suggested. Safety boots have this metal toe cap to protect the wearer's toes in case they get smashed by heavy objects. now if that was a shoe that bro would be wearing out for fun, he would surely kick the living soul outta anybody! conventional salesmen would just push for their product to be sold, but what he had that was different is that he wanted to ensure that his customers would enjoy wearing the shoes and come back. and so far, that has been working for the past 20 YEARS, since he takes pride in his work! well his gestures, the way how he cares for others advising them on how to take care of their leather boots really impacted me so much yesterday! can you imagine a guy who is already in his late fifties but yet still so humble, helping others? Its like as though he doesnt even care about the commission! in the end, bro actually found a pair of boots that he liked, and there was a size that fits his feet! (big fat feet)

He did the same too, measure my feet, and i just chose the design that really caught my eye! how i shop for items is this, i walk into a shop, if an item catches my eye, then thats my choice! if nothing does, then dont buy! then again i dont buy everything that catches my eye. most of the time, there's nothing -___- this time round, there was a design and i grabbed it! even though my parents paid for it, i kind of feel that it would probably be better that i paid for the shoe myself, then i would have a greater ownership to take care of the shoe myself! oh yes, after trying on the shoe, i took it off by wrangling the sides of it, as in i used one hand, grabbed half of the lace and pulled them apart, which...took quite some effort and i had to fumble to take out the boots :P ben then taught me a much cooler way, which was to actually undo two of the highest laces first before pulling them apart gently, and everything just comes lose so easily!! well after choosing my design and settling all the stuff, i thought we were going to pay already. but nope, mum suggested to call the distributor at queensway shopping mall. It is a mall that sells really really cheap goods! uh good and bad. I was kind of taken aback, that my parents would actually do something like this, after the salesman has treated us so kindly! as mum and dad actually called them up to check for the prices and availability of stock. in fact, they even asked Ben for their contact number, and he was actually so willing to help, since we could get the shoes at a discount elsewhere. From my point of view, the saleswoman over at queensway mall was really really shoddy (her explanations and stuff were crap, like crap crap crap) and didnt care much, all she wanted was money, but she was able to sell to us the boots at a lower price, quite a substantial discount. On the other hand, i have this really really nice salesman, Ben, who works tirelessly to give us the boots that fit us best! but of course because that is the original shop, and the prices are fixed. now then, which person would you choose to buy the pair of boots from?

In my opinion, i went for Ben. Even though he was able to offer the shoes at a much higher price, if it was not for him, i would not even be considering Red Wing boots, plus even if i was, i may not be buying the boots that is best suited for me! and even so, i would not have a clue that i actually have to take care of the shoe from time to time. Hence even though the prices are higher, at least i know that my money, and the sales commission, is going to someone who truly deserves it all. i wont want to be giving it to somebody who doesnt deserve it man! who didnt even work hard for it!

How about you?

In the end, after an afternoon of calling various shops, parents had to go back to the original store as the rest didnt have the stock. Thank God they went back to that store!

the boots that caught my eye:

hehe apparently i havent laced the boots yet! :P


if you havent watched RED2 yet, please do so! just look at how badass the movie trailer is!