So, that got a little weird in a hurry.
By now most of you know that mom celebrated working 40 years at Shoppers Drug Mart last Saturday. That's because, in a first for this blog, the post went viral.
How viral? Well, let's put it in some perspective. The previous three posts had the following amount of traffic.
Comic Art Collection: Thor - 45 clicks.
Comic Art Collection: Supergirl and Batgirl - 46 clicks
Settling in (how things are going up here) - 93 clicks
The post on mom's anniversary? - 10,250 clicks. And it's still climbing, although at a much slower rate. There were 8,000 page view on Sunday alone.
The previous best for the past three years was my last update to the Moving to Iqaluit FAQ back in 2017 (which reminds me, I need to do that again), and it had 4,061.
But the numbers for all of this are astounding. Yes, my blog experienced a massive spike in traffic, but that's only part of it. NTV reporter Jodi Cooke put out a congratulatory tweet on April 18. It has 28 retweets, 73 comments, and 642 likes. Then I got an email from CBC's Krissy Holmes asking if we'd like to appear on the Morning Show. I think mom was a bit nervous, but it was fun. All I had to do was remember I was the sidekick and let mom do her thing, which she always does.
You can listen to the whole thing here. Or read the story here.
And how was the reaction to the CBC story? The story was shared 84 times, with over 1,300 likes and 234 people commented on it.
Two sitting MPs extending congrats to her. And after the story she told about Danny Williams' mom I'm half surprised a new car hasn't shown up in her driveway.
On top of that mom said she's had a lot of people wave at her at Shoppers and congratulate her on her anniversary. She's threaten to put me up for adoption because of all the attention, which is a nice blast from the past....she hasn't threatened me with that since I was 16. But she loves it. I know she does.
But here's the thing that truly blows my mind. I haven't read all the comments and tweets, but I've read a lot of them. Nobody said anything bad.
Not one snarky comment. No one from PETA coming out of the woodwork and bashing the cosmetics industry. No one with a "bad" customer experience coming to correct everyone. Everything was positive. They congratulated her. They told happy stories about their interaction with mom. They talked about what an important part of their lives she's been over the years (One 53-year-old woman said she's been buying make-up from mom since she was 15). They said how much they loved her.
I'm not one to idly throw around the word "miraculous" but in this day of instant outrage and anger on social media, this is as close to one as you will find.
But it's mom....I am utterly unsurprised.
But the nice thing isn't just the numbers and the outpouring of love....it's that mom can get to see it all. It occurred to me that this kind of thing often happens....after the person is no longer around to hear it. Mom's going to be around for a long time yet, but it's nice that she can see all of this. It's one thing to know you're good at your job and for people to compliment you, but this kind of wave of adoration it is a rare thing. I really hope she's soaking it in and enjoying it.
And now, one last mom story. Because I'm kicking myself for not putting it in the original post, and because it's honestly hilarious to me.
It's not just that mom's been working at Shoppers for 40 years, she's also worked Christmas Eve for every single year she's been with Shoppers. Hell, from mid-November to Christmas she rarely takes a day off because it's so busy.
But my favourite thing about her working Christmas Eve is that every year, every year, there's a group of men who discover around 4 pm that it's Christmas (funny how that can just sneak up on you) and maybe they should buy something for their wives. I think the record for someone coming into the store was at 4:55 on Christmas Eve when they close at 5.
If you're a woman who lives in the East End and you've ever received a suspiciously nice bottle of perfume for Christmas....well, odds are your husband was at Shoppers 20 minutes before close the day before.
I know it amuses mom, although she never takes advantage of them or tries to oversell them. She tries to find out what their wife likes, and if she's ever shopped there before, and tries to find the best thing for them....all before the store closes in a few minutes.
I've said that mom should get an award for the number of marriages she's saved. Hell, she's probably prevented a few murders.
So there you go....the last Daphne story....for now.
Man, it's going to be hard to top this for Mother's Day next month....
Last Five
1. Heart to heart with Lionel - Joel Plaskett Emergency
2. Slow disco - St. Vincent
3. Battlefords - Hawksley Workman*
4. Making a noise - Robbie Robertson
5. Growin' up (live) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
By now most of you know that mom celebrated working 40 years at Shoppers Drug Mart last Saturday. That's because, in a first for this blog, the post went viral.
How viral? Well, let's put it in some perspective. The previous three posts had the following amount of traffic.
Comic Art Collection: Thor - 45 clicks.
Comic Art Collection: Supergirl and Batgirl - 46 clicks
Settling in (how things are going up here) - 93 clicks
 |
| The top picture is from opening day 1980 with her former boss John. The bottom two are from 2019. |
The previous best for the past three years was my last update to the Moving to Iqaluit FAQ back in 2017 (which reminds me, I need to do that again), and it had 4,061.
But the numbers for all of this are astounding. Yes, my blog experienced a massive spike in traffic, but that's only part of it. NTV reporter Jodi Cooke put out a congratulatory tweet on April 18. It has 28 retweets, 73 comments, and 642 likes. Then I got an email from CBC's Krissy Holmes asking if we'd like to appear on the Morning Show. I think mom was a bit nervous, but it was fun. All I had to do was remember I was the sidekick and let mom do her thing, which she always does.
You can listen to the whole thing here. Or read the story here.
And how was the reaction to the CBC story? The story was shared 84 times, with over 1,300 likes and 234 people commented on it.
Two sitting MPs extending congrats to her. And after the story she told about Danny Williams' mom I'm half surprised a new car hasn't shown up in her driveway.
On top of that mom said she's had a lot of people wave at her at Shoppers and congratulate her on her anniversary. She's threaten to put me up for adoption because of all the attention, which is a nice blast from the past....she hasn't threatened me with that since I was 16. But she loves it. I know she does.
But here's the thing that truly blows my mind. I haven't read all the comments and tweets, but I've read a lot of them. Nobody said anything bad.
Not one snarky comment. No one from PETA coming out of the woodwork and bashing the cosmetics industry. No one with a "bad" customer experience coming to correct everyone. Everything was positive. They congratulated her. They told happy stories about their interaction with mom. They talked about what an important part of their lives she's been over the years (One 53-year-old woman said she's been buying make-up from mom since she was 15). They said how much they loved her.
 |
| If you bring a wee dog into the store, mom has to say hi. |
But it's mom....I am utterly unsurprised.
But the nice thing isn't just the numbers and the outpouring of love....it's that mom can get to see it all. It occurred to me that this kind of thing often happens....after the person is no longer around to hear it. Mom's going to be around for a long time yet, but it's nice that she can see all of this. It's one thing to know you're good at your job and for people to compliment you, but this kind of wave of adoration it is a rare thing. I really hope she's soaking it in and enjoying it.
And now, one last mom story. Because I'm kicking myself for not putting it in the original post, and because it's honestly hilarious to me.
It's not just that mom's been working at Shoppers for 40 years, she's also worked Christmas Eve for every single year she's been with Shoppers. Hell, from mid-November to Christmas she rarely takes a day off because it's so busy.
But my favourite thing about her working Christmas Eve is that every year, every year, there's a group of men who discover around 4 pm that it's Christmas (funny how that can just sneak up on you) and maybe they should buy something for their wives. I think the record for someone coming into the store was at 4:55 on Christmas Eve when they close at 5.
If you're a woman who lives in the East End and you've ever received a suspiciously nice bottle of perfume for Christmas....well, odds are your husband was at Shoppers 20 minutes before close the day before.
I know it amuses mom, although she never takes advantage of them or tries to oversell them. She tries to find out what their wife likes, and if she's ever shopped there before, and tries to find the best thing for them....all before the store closes in a few minutes.
I've said that mom should get an award for the number of marriages she's saved. Hell, she's probably prevented a few murders.
So there you go....the last Daphne story....for now.
Man, it's going to be hard to top this for Mother's Day next month....
Last Five
1. Heart to heart with Lionel - Joel Plaskett Emergency
2. Slow disco - St. Vincent
3. Battlefords - Hawksley Workman*
4. Making a noise - Robbie Robertson
5. Growin' up (live) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
1 comment:
Hi Craig...I think she should definitely make a recurring appearance! She is beautiful, kind, caring, funny, selfless and a cosmetic guru! Every time I see her at Shopper’s, she greets me with a hug and kind words of love and encouragement and I smile because I know it’s genuine...that she really does care about how I am doing....❤️....just saying!!!!
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