@classmethod
def from_dict(cls, node, attributes=None):
    """
        Create a new Customer initialized by a specified dictionary of attributes

        :rtype: Customer
        :param node: the node of the customer
        :param attributes: a dictionary representing the attributes of the new Customer
        :return: a new Customer object
        """
    o = cls(node=node)
    o.attributes = {} if attributes is None else attributes
    return o
