Sharcha

Sharcha is a customer of mine. It should be noted that in the interest of protecting Sharcha's identity, I have refrained from using Sharcha's real name, instead I googled "unisex names", landed on www.cool-baby-names.com and found myself in a veritable playground of gender non-specific names. Apparently the names mean different things for boys and girls, so let me tell you something if Sharcha is a man, his name is of Jewish origin and means Dawn. If Sharcha is a woman, well then it's also Jewish and means Dawn. Fascinating stuff.

Here's my dilemma, I don't know if Sharcha means dawn or dawn (would have worked better if my name choice was actually one with separate meanings, however attaining such a name looked to be a time-costly project and Sharcha just sounds SO fun when you say it quick. Sharcha-Sharcha-Sharcha). That aside, what I'm trying to say, is that I'm not sure if Sharcha is a man or a woman.

Now look, lets clear something up real quick. I don't care if Sharcha means dawn or dawn, the sun still rises all the same if you know what I'm saying (if you DO know what I'm saying, congratulations, that gives you one up on me). As far as I'm concerned Sharcha is a soul Jesus loves and one of my favourite customers and if anyone gave Sharcha lip in front of me, den deys best be 'specting ta git roooolled. While I'm not aware of which gender Sharcha identifies with, what I am painfully aware of is that whatever gender Sharcha's gender-journey began at and whichever gender (if any) the journey has come to a close at, that journey would not have been an easy one and the last thing I'd ever want to do is add any sorrow to it.

So, now that's all cleared up, shall we proceed?

The only reason I'm mentioning any of this is because I need to tell you how immensely, profoundly, incomprehensibly DAFT I was yesterday when Sharcha came in, bubbly and wonderful as ever and brought a few of the usual products to the counter. I work with Natural Health Products in case you're wondering and if you weren't well you need to know anyway because this information integral to the story.

Anyways, when Sharcha came to the counter this is how the conversation went:

Me: Sharcha! How are you?

Sharcha: Good thank you, just in for the usual.

Me: Wow, you've been flying through this stuff!

Sharcha: Yes I love it, I'm finding it's amazing for my energy levels.

Me: I'm so glad to hear that! I was thinking about your little health regime actually and I've been meaning to ask, do you take a multivitamin?

Sharcha: No, do you think I should?

Me: Yes! Definitely, I think it would really help. It's like the missing link in everything you're taking.

Sharcha: What would you recommend?

Ok I just need to warn you it's about to get super awkward. Please, for your own safety, please only proceed if you deal at least reasonably well with awkward.

Deep breaths.

Me: Well this one here is my favourite, it's a really great general multi.

(it truly is BTW and it's the one I always show customers first and then I....well...yeah, read on...)

Me: Or you could try a...

I've trailed off there because what I usually do after showing the first general multi is take the customer to a gender specific multi. Bugger. Realising I couldn't say what I'd been about to say, I instead opted for:

Me: um...something...ah more specific.

At this point I should mention that I often over think things and had become certain that Sharcha knew exactly what I had been about to say and I felt horrible that I might have hurt his/her feelings.

Sharcha: Oh, like which one?

Me: Well yeah just something more specific...like...

Here's a list of things I could have said:

• stress management


• gaps in your diet


• helping with joint pain


• age-specific


• useful for long periods of time spent in deep space

However, in all reality each of those options would have brought us back to the issue of a gender specific multi. Cause once you go past the generic ones, they all go to 'Women's Stress Multi' or 'Men's Deep Space Multi'. Clearly this is NOT my fault and instead is a massive oversight on behalf of every vitamin supplier In. The. World.

So here's what I said:

Me: like a specific one for...you?

Sharcha stared blankly at me for a moment before comprehension dawned. Solemnly the eyes travelled our vitamin clad shelves, each multivitamin package in girly pink/purple or roguish blue/green. Surely at one of these fancy vitamin companies, someone in legal has brought it up with someone in marketing that there exists a huge liability for having a class action brought against them by angry trans-genderites tired of being excluded by this blatant gender specific packaging???

Sharcha was gracious enough to return to the multi I originally waxed lyrical over and politely read the ingredients before returning to the counter to pay for the products placed there earlier. To describe the atmosphere at that point as 'awkward' would not have done justice to the situation. I was dying inside.

Do you remember the movie Titanic?

There's this bit when they're floating in the water, Jack's just died and Rose is all "I'll never let go" and then promptly lets go. Well it's some point after that when the search party arrives and almost don't spot her. Rose then feebly stretches out a hand and calls "Come back."



This was what I call one of my "Come back." moments, where words or actions issue forth from me before I can realise how completely inappropriate they are. Then as I watch the repercussions of them unfold around me, a little Rose in my head stretches forth a feeble hand and calls "Come back.".

Lucky for her, the boat did come back. Sadly for me, my proverbial ships have always sailed.

I really hope I see Sharcha again :(

J xxxo

P.S. I google imaged "trans-gender" and this came up. How odd.