Power Of The Pink Dollar

(I work at a renaissance festival in a shop that mainly sells crowns and tiaras. Although we have a few items that are classified as unisex, the bulk of our customer base is female. It’s not uncommon for a family with a little boy to come into the shop and leave soon after telling their child that it’s a shop for girls only. I often will tell these people where the unisex crowns are, as they’re towards the back of the tiny shop and not always visible when you first walk in. A young couple walk in with a small boy, looking to be about five or so. They start to look around but generally seem uninterested in anything.)

Me: “Just to let you know, there are also some unisex crowns back here if the young lord would be interested.”

Mother: “Nah, I think he likes these ones with the ribbons.”

(The child grabs a tiara with ribbons and gems, the same that I actually happen to be wearing. Our displays are sorted by color and pink happens to be the bottom color as is the one he grabs.)

Me: *to the boy* “Those come in an assortment of colors, too, if you want.”

(He seems shy and just turns away from me and hands the tiara to his mother.)

Mother: “That’s okay, his favorite color is pink anyway. I guess we’ll get this one.”

(They pay and leave. It seems so silly, but having seen so many people practically drag their sons out of the shop because ‘crowns are for girls,’ it made me incredibly happy to see them respect their child’s likes.)