Annie

By Matthew C. Rousu. 2018

"Ya'd goods on the fo'th floor please. 'ello? No, I'm sorry, we 'aven't any gingham today." On learning that L. S. Ayres' has no gingham, you put the' receiver down, but your curiousity still is not quite satisfied. For that melodious, half exotic voice on the telephone leaves you wondering and puzzled as to its origin, and you resolve to satisfy your curiousity the next time you visit the yard goods department. There, answering the telephone and working in the inspection desk, you will find Annie Crich. After thirty-three years in the United States, Annie Cr ich is still as English as the Tower of London. Her English speech, sometimes interspersed wit h American slang expressions, and her whimsical manner at first made her an object of amusement to the clerks in yard goods. But it was not long before the whole department, in fact, most of the fourth floor, became Annie-conscious. It seemed that when Annie left Ilkeston in Derbyshire, England, she not only brought to the United States her native speech, but also her inherited English adherence to accuracy. On Annie's arrival, errors in selling, wrapping, and sending yard goods almost ceased to exist. From her vantage point in the inspection desk Annie can and usually manages to oversee the entire department. In her slow, deliberate, but deadly accurate, manner she keeps a selfappointed watch on inspectors and clerks alike. The head buyer himself falls under her jurisdiction. Much as she dislikes to admit it, even the head of the inspection desk, Annie's boss, relies on Annie to remember who sent what package, containing whose merchandise, to whom on what day. If a daydreaming inspector makes a mistake, she is sure to be reminded quietly by Annie, who somehow was there to notice, "That's a delivery you're a'doin'. Be careful, or we'll be a'havin' a 'catrastrophe'." Accurate and painstaking though she may be, even Annie sometimes slips, and she readily admits, "I hadn't ought to, didn't I'!" One morning when she appeared without her usual neat apron tied about her waist, she modestly confided, "I just feel like I'm undressed." Scrupulo~sly clean, Annie makes sure that the desk is duly dusted and scrubbed every morning before the store opens. Every box is in place before a customer appears on the floor. When there is work to be done, Annie does her full share, usually more, and does it uncomplainingly. More often than would seem respectful, perhaps, Annie falls the victim of the pranks of' the younger inspectors in the desk. Frequently the back of her apron is adorned with huge, waving tissue paper butterflies and angel wings, placed there with Scotch tape by one of the girls who administered a supposed friendly embrace. On discovering the joke, Annie always exclaims, "Oh, you young folks! I just cain't keep up with you." But it is with the younger girls that Annie likes to be most, and she often tells them fascinating stories of her childhood and courting days in merry old England. Norlin, Annie's small grandchild, is her grandmother's favorite subject, though. A tea drinker by nationality, Annie Americanized her palate somewhat when she adopted a few American dishes as /

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