I Was Selfish at the Fabric Store
 

As I was approaching the cutting table, I heard a lady - who was in the middle of getting her fabric cut - telling the clerk that she wanted fabric with large fish on it. As I put my choices on the adjacent cutting table, she looked at my bolt with large colorful fish and told the clerk that it was exactly what she wanted. So the clerk took the bolt, asked me how much I wanted, how much she wanted and then told us there was more than enough to satisfy us both. Then she started to lay out the bolt to cut the lady's order.

No, no, no, no, no. I told her that I would have my piece cut first and the other lady could cut from what was left. Glad I did, because the balance left on the bolt was over a yard short of what the other lady wanted.

Lesson: we do have to be selfish sometimes.

Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Good for you! Don't think I'd have anticipated that. I'd have been the one crying all the way home.

Since you are the one who had teh bolt in her hand, it's only fair that you get the first cut off that bolt.

i don't feel that you were being selfish. you were entitled to ask for your cut first as you chose the bolt first.

I do not think you were being selfish at all. You were first!!

First come first serve.

Quick thinking on your part. I used to work at a fabric store and was taught how to count yards on a bolt - 2 folds for every yard.

I was in a store once and carrying around a bolt of "hand dyed" fabric (pre batik frenzy.) The kind that had drops of one color, then another on top of that, etc so that it had different colors in patches. (can't remember name of it) Anyway, I only wanted a little bit, but the part I wanted was in the beginning of a cut. I was waiting for my turn, and the sales person said I could put the bolt down while I was waiting. I started to look at the patterns next to me to kept me occupied. The lady having her stack of fabric cut said she would like so much of this. I wasn't looking (but thought she was still working on her stack) and she had taken "my" bolt and had them cut off some of it. When I realized what they had done, I looked at the fabric and the color had changed to a completely different color and if I wanted "my" color, I would have to buy 3X as much to get back to my color. Didn't even ask how much I wanted before she helped herself. What if I wanted the whole bolt? Told the cutter there wasn't enough now for what I wanted and left the store.

He or she with bolt in hand , has the "right of way" as far as I am concerned.