Before every photoshoot, lots of preparation work is involved. It's not as simple as driving the clothes to the studio and snap snap snap. Any blogshop owner will tell you the same thing.
For our photoshoots, it involves shooting of both PDP clothes and TFL bags. We are talking about 40-60 items at any one shoot. We try to maximise the number of items, so that the cost involved can be brought down to the lowest and we can continue to bring you girls the best prices possible. A blogshop, after all, is about high volume and low margin.
To get a launch out, 4-5 of us from the family are involved. The Husband helps me with the stuffing & measurement of bags, which takes us about 1.5 hours. If I stuff the bags alone, I will probably pass out from all the PU leather smell and take 3-4 hours to complete. Whichever comes first.
Mum helps the piggies to iron their 20-30 pieces of clothing, and the piggies will pack them neatly into garment bags to bring to the shoot. Mum does this at night or over the weekend, when she's done with her teaching assistant work and housework. This process takes about 2 hours.
As I do not go to shoots, before every shoot, I will either call/text/email 2nd Brother (he's in charge of the shoots) if there is any special instruction e.g. a different way of carrying a particular bag, a certain expression I prefer the model to have, things to take note when packing certain bags after the shoot to ensure no damage is done.
Arranging for shoots can be tricky sometimes. We have to check the schedules of 2nd Brother, the models and the photographer. Exams, projects, overseas trips, special occasions, exhibitions and other bookings often play a hand in determining our shoots realisation.
We were supposed to have a photoshoot today at 10am.
This shoot was arranged last Wednesday night. Initially, the photographer couldn't make it but agreed to helping us out. The model also confirmed her availability. All was good.
But at 8am, we got a text from the model saying she had something on at home and had to cancel the shoot.
Although this was not the first time a model did that (you would be surprised at how irresponsible some pretty girls are), this was the first time this model has done this.
I'm not going to be politically correct here. I was not just upset when I heard the news. I was furious.
Where are we supposed to find a stand-in at 2 hours before the shoot?
Big Brother had took half-day leave from work to help 2nd Brother out with this shoot. Everyone was rushing at home to do the last minute touch ups required for the shoot when the text came in. Because TFL is adding clothing to its product line and the style is gonna be different from that of PDP, more assistance was needed to ensure that everything go smoothly. I was particularly excited and nervous about this shoot because of the clothing.
The model's last-minute change of plans messed up our launches for next week and wiped out my excitement. Photos were supposed to be ready by Thur/Fri so that we can launch on Mon/Tues. But now, the shoot is rescheduled to Friday, which means the launch might only happen on Wed, as the photographer takes about 3 days to edit the photos. The later a launch is, the harder it is for us to do backorders. And Big Brother will be away on a work trip then.
Sickening? Absolutely.
I prefer having shoots 2 weeks in advance before the photos of scheduled launches run out. But sometimes the range of new items we have is not enough to call for a shoot. Before this mess, I was just telling Big Brother that we should get another model in for the shoot, because the photographer can only spare us 2 hours instead of the usual 3.5 hours and I worry that we don't have enough time. But the piggies were concerned about the cost as the photographer would charge more when there are 2 models, so we agreed on finishing as much as we can.
Throughout the day while packing & mailing parcels, I was still simmering.
And a fruit stall assistant got the brunt of my wrath later in the evening.
I wanted watermelon juice and requested for less, with no ice. Wasn't able to finish the whole cup of juice without a tummy upset and I did not want to waste the drink by throwing it away. But I told the lady I would still pay the intended price. I was definitely not hankering for a discount.
Fruit stall assistant: 我们是卖整杯的，没有卖少的。
Her attitude was not pleasant. Singaporean service can be too inflexible for its own good.
I was already exhausted from the parcel packing and the screwed-up shoot to bear with this kind of nonsense.
Me: 钱我照给啊！你只要给我少一点就行啦！
Fruit stall assistant: 没有！没有！没有卖少的！
This did not make sense.
I raised my voice and in a very harsh tone: 钱我照给，我没有要你收少，你又没有少赚，你为什么不可以卖给我？
Fruit stall assistant, looking slightly startled: 不要冰，一块七哦！
Me, still in the same harsh tone: 可以啊！我没有在跟你在计较那几毛钱啊！
I got my cup of 75% filled watermelon juice.
As I walked away, the happiness of getting what I wanted was quickly overwhelmed by a sense of remorse. Why did I choose to lash out that way? I didn't have to talk like that in order to get what I wanted. If I had made an effort to talk nicely, I know I would still have it my way.
I was too ashamed to walk back to apologise and honestly, I was so angry with the circumstances yesterday that now I couldn't remember which assistant it was.
Love is blind. So is anger.
Love is blind. So is anger.
You will never read this, I am sure. I repented in my nightly prayers but I still wish to say I'm sorry I let my anger got the better of me. I'm really sorry. =((((((
Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu
福祸相依，表面上是好的，可能会变坏，有时坏的也会变好的。我要学会以平常心对待。
福祸相依，表面上是好的，可能会变坏，有时坏的也会变好的。我要学会以平常心对待。
