This is something really small, but it comes up multiple times a day at work and I am looking for a good way to handle it. Or, if I am just being petty then please tell me so.
I am a dog groomer for a large corporate salon. The salon offers a bow or bandana with every groom. The business provide solid colored bandanas with the Company name on them. They also provide ribbon with the Company name on it so that we can make bows. We do not need to spend any of our own money buying these things.
We have pink bandanas for the female dogs, but most groomers prefer to use bows for females. Most customers prefer it too.
I make my own bows with my own ribbon. At one point, I was selling packages of bows, but I no longer do that. The money that I got for them wasn't worth it to me and all of the demands were taking the fun out of it. The bows I make are quite fancy. They aren't hard to make, but its time consuming.
So, this is what keeps happening. There are certain coworkers that will not make or buy their own bows. Instead, they will just keep asking me for mine. They ask for them 2 at a time, so I feel really petty saying no. The problem is that its 2 bows for each dog, so I know that they are just going to ask for more when they finish their next dog.
In cases where I have already given them 2, then they will ask if they can "buy" 2 more. The problem with that is that I don't want them to think that they can buy my bows 2 at a time.
If I do not have any of my bows with me, one person in particular will ask if I can make them two bows with our Company Ribbon.
How can I tell them that I do not want to provide them with bows in any way? Am I being petty? What about when they ask me in front of the customer?
What can I do to discourage them from asking me?