Won't You Please, Please Help Me?
Adrienne is our dojo sewing guru. She makes her own beautiful clothes. She has been kind enough to use her time to teach me beginner projects like how to sew a pair of pajama pants. My mom and sister are happy benefactors of my new endeavor.
Recently, Adrienne announced that she is going to move back to the west coast. It is very sad news for me at many levels, but I am happy that she gets to live where she wants and to be nearer to family.
After she moves back to the west coast, I really hope she will continue to practice Aikido. Of course, I can tell her what I wish for her. To convey the message better, I think, I need to practice what I preach: I cannot stop sewing just because Adrienne is moving away. Her gift to me has to live on. As such, I decided to go to the store to pick up some sewing patterns and continue to learn myself.
It was the quieter hours at the store. There were not a lot of customers, but there were not a lot of staff members available to help either. I saw an old lady sitting there going through a pattern catalogue. I decided I would ask her how it worked. She was very friendly and helpful. She showed me how to use the catalogues by walking me through the process. You need to know the system, but it is not very complicated. We started chatting while flipping through the thick catalogue books.
An Asian lady came by and asked if we were customers or if we worked there. Old lady and I exchanged a look and a smile. Old lady responded, "We don't work here. We are just customers." Asian lady paced back and forth for a while, and then came back to ask if we knew where Minnesota Fabrics was. Older lady and I exchanged a perplexed look. "As far as I know, there is no such store in this mall. What are you looking for?"
Asian lady recounted the problem with her sewing machine: Everything was going fine, but then, all of a sudden, the threads started gathering into a clump on the underside of the fabric she was sewing. It kept recurring. Therefore, she was hoping to find someone to fix the sewing machine for her.
Older lady turned to quiz me with a little grin, "Do you know what the problem is?" Like a little pupil, I raised my hand and said,"I think I know this one. It is a tension problem. Most likely, it is due to incorrect threading on the top. The thread comes down from the spool to the left. It then goes back up to hook on the moving arm on the right before it comes back down again. It has to go behind the clasp before it goes through the needle eye. I guess she missed the loop on the moving arm that goes up and down. It is a very common mistake." Old lady broke out a big smile and gave me a big thumb up.
"No, the threading cannot be wrong. I have tried redoing it, but the problem persists." Asian lady pointed at the image of a Singer machine on a box nearby and said, "See the numbers here? You follow the numbers to thread it from right to left. I have done just that, but it is still having problems." So, we asked her what kind of machine she had, and she said it was a Singer, though it must be over 20 years old.
"Oh, if it is that old, more than likely, the threading is from left to right. Only new machines go from right to left. Are you sure yours goes from right to left? Have you tried the other way?" Old lady suggested. "Nope. It has to be right to left. See this machine here? It is also a Singer. Mine is a Singer," Asian lady insisted.
Older lady let out a sigh of resignation. She gently said," Well, then good luck with your search. I hope you find someone who can help you." Instantly, she returned to flipping her pattern catalogue.
Asian lady seemed surprised that old lady could disengage just like that. She looked at me, as if she was hoping I could save her. I already told her my best guess. She did not have her machine with her. There was not much more I could do for her.
Asian lady stood there staring at us for a while before she finally walked away. I had the feeling that Asian lady found the old lady not very helpful. I, on the other hand, find the situation quite amusing and fascinating: The old lady was extremely nice and helpful with me just moments ago. How did she become so distant and disinterested all of a sudden? We were sitting at the same store, talking about sewing like we had been. How do you turn off someone who is so enthusiastic in sharing her love for sewing in no time?
Sometimes, it is really not a matter of whether others are helpful or not. If you truly want help, you need to be open to suggestions and make it possible for people to help you. When you find the world so closed and not agreeable, perhaps what you see is a reflection of yourself.
Recently, Adrienne announced that she is going to move back to the west coast. It is very sad news for me at many levels, but I am happy that she gets to live where she wants and to be nearer to family.
After she moves back to the west coast, I really hope she will continue to practice Aikido. Of course, I can tell her what I wish for her. To convey the message better, I think, I need to practice what I preach: I cannot stop sewing just because Adrienne is moving away. Her gift to me has to live on. As such, I decided to go to the store to pick up some sewing patterns and continue to learn myself.
It was the quieter hours at the store. There were not a lot of customers, but there were not a lot of staff members available to help either. I saw an old lady sitting there going through a pattern catalogue. I decided I would ask her how it worked. She was very friendly and helpful. She showed me how to use the catalogues by walking me through the process. You need to know the system, but it is not very complicated. We started chatting while flipping through the thick catalogue books.
An Asian lady came by and asked if we were customers or if we worked there. Old lady and I exchanged a look and a smile. Old lady responded, "We don't work here. We are just customers." Asian lady paced back and forth for a while, and then came back to ask if we knew where Minnesota Fabrics was. Older lady and I exchanged a perplexed look. "As far as I know, there is no such store in this mall. What are you looking for?"
Asian lady recounted the problem with her sewing machine: Everything was going fine, but then, all of a sudden, the threads started gathering into a clump on the underside of the fabric she was sewing. It kept recurring. Therefore, she was hoping to find someone to fix the sewing machine for her.
Older lady turned to quiz me with a little grin, "Do you know what the problem is?" Like a little pupil, I raised my hand and said,"I think I know this one. It is a tension problem. Most likely, it is due to incorrect threading on the top. The thread comes down from the spool to the left. It then goes back up to hook on the moving arm on the right before it comes back down again. It has to go behind the clasp before it goes through the needle eye. I guess she missed the loop on the moving arm that goes up and down. It is a very common mistake." Old lady broke out a big smile and gave me a big thumb up.
"No, the threading cannot be wrong. I have tried redoing it, but the problem persists." Asian lady pointed at the image of a Singer machine on a box nearby and said, "See the numbers here? You follow the numbers to thread it from right to left. I have done just that, but it is still having problems." So, we asked her what kind of machine she had, and she said it was a Singer, though it must be over 20 years old.
"Oh, if it is that old, more than likely, the threading is from left to right. Only new machines go from right to left. Are you sure yours goes from right to left? Have you tried the other way?" Old lady suggested. "Nope. It has to be right to left. See this machine here? It is also a Singer. Mine is a Singer," Asian lady insisted.
Older lady let out a sigh of resignation. She gently said," Well, then good luck with your search. I hope you find someone who can help you." Instantly, she returned to flipping her pattern catalogue.
Asian lady seemed surprised that old lady could disengage just like that. She looked at me, as if she was hoping I could save her. I already told her my best guess. She did not have her machine with her. There was not much more I could do for her.
Asian lady stood there staring at us for a while before she finally walked away. I had the feeling that Asian lady found the old lady not very helpful. I, on the other hand, find the situation quite amusing and fascinating: The old lady was extremely nice and helpful with me just moments ago. How did she become so distant and disinterested all of a sudden? We were sitting at the same store, talking about sewing like we had been. How do you turn off someone who is so enthusiastic in sharing her love for sewing in no time?
Sometimes, it is really not a matter of whether others are helpful or not. If you truly want help, you need to be open to suggestions and make it possible for people to help you. When you find the world so closed and not agreeable, perhaps what you see is a reflection of yourself.
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