I think what the author was trying to get across with that particular story is that any message is dependent on how the recipient chooses to interpret it. I me

I think what the author was trying to get across with that particular story is that any message is dependent on how the recipient chooses to interpret it. I mean, the airport attendant probably thought they were being efficient and direct by barking orders to the crowd. The sales lady probably thought she was being attentive and useful. Under totally different circumstances (i.e. if the author visited the dress shop after getting a promotion etc.), the interaction could have been very different and they could have played off each other. In this case, the interaction fell flat because each party had different goals and objectives, as well as a different history getting up to that point. There are a million ways to interpret the "No, I don't want to come out" sentence. (1) She could be simply a rude customer (2) The customer may have had some body shaming issues that makes it difficult for them to show themselves half undressed to a stranger or, similarly (3) the customer may have religious or cultural issues around that, or occam's razor - (4) the customer simply did not like the sales person or the dress and didn't want to continue the engagement any further. And everything in between that. The salesperson chose to interpret it their own way. On a different day, she may have shrugged it off. On a particular difficult day, she may take it as a personal slight. Perhaps she felt that she had some sort of rapport with the customer based on her accepting the offer to try on the dress, and was personally hurt when it turned out not to be so?