I love reading people's clothing blogs because I love to see how people wear their clothes and then read about why they put certain things together or what inspired them.
I have to wear an apron at work. I have become so used to it that I feel naked when I don't have it on and often wear aprons at home to put me in a work/project/chore mood. Other than that, I get to wear pretty much whatever I want, as long as it does not put me in danger or show too much skin.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Cheerful thoughts
When I am on my way to work, I pass by this cafe. On Sundays, I often see this one particular couple. I know them through work because they are reps for some of the products we sell. They never acknowledge me. I used to give a little smile, nod, or wave, but gave that up when I realized what was going on. I will admit that it annoys me greatly. I don't want to be their flippin friend, but I am a person, and purposely ignoring me is just rude.
It's like I am not important enough to acknowledge. They are chummy with some of the higher-ups, but I am just a clerk in the store, a poor wage-slave that doesn't run in their circles. I suppose it doesn't matter that, in the trickle down, me and all of my colleagues in retail are part of the reason that they can have their cushy, casual Sunday life.
Maybe they just want to have work and personal life separate. That is fine. So do I. But this is not a big town, and it is just weird to ignore someone. We know each others' names! I went to their freaking baby shower for shit's sake (it was through work, but I was still there listened to them ramble on about their kid and oohed and aahed at stupid baby gifts). It would not be difficult to at least just smile at me.
I am going to make a choice to be over this. If they want to be rude, crappy people, I say good luck. I am going to try to be a better person and appreciate all the clerks in my daily life. A kind word can go a long way.
It's like I am not important enough to acknowledge. They are chummy with some of the higher-ups, but I am just a clerk in the store, a poor wage-slave that doesn't run in their circles. I suppose it doesn't matter that, in the trickle down, me and all of my colleagues in retail are part of the reason that they can have their cushy, casual Sunday life.
Maybe they just want to have work and personal life separate. That is fine. So do I. But this is not a big town, and it is just weird to ignore someone. We know each others' names! I went to their freaking baby shower for shit's sake (it was through work, but I was still there listened to them ramble on about their kid and oohed and aahed at stupid baby gifts). It would not be difficult to at least just smile at me.
I am going to make a choice to be over this. If they want to be rude, crappy people, I say good luck. I am going to try to be a better person and appreciate all the clerks in my daily life. A kind word can go a long way.
Customers say the darndest things
-Co-worker and I were talking about the Amy Sedaris book "I Like You", specifically the part about looking at your vagina with a mirror. At that precise moment, a customer walked up and asked "Do you have any mirrors?"
-Sexy glam mommie was loudly describing a "boa made of dollar bills." "It was all, you know, paper mâché." I hope she meant origami because I immediately thought of this. Accessories made of shredded money would be beyond stupid.
-Bored children running around the store making up a story about having to find and marry their true prince before they are 16. (HA!) They were using an awesome "fairy tale voice."
-Sexy glam mommie was loudly describing a "boa made of dollar bills." "It was all, you know, paper mâché." I hope she meant origami because I immediately thought of this. Accessories made of shredded money would be beyond stupid.
-Bored children running around the store making up a story about having to find and marry their true prince before they are 16. (HA!) They were using an awesome "fairy tale voice."
Friday, February 20, 2009
Follow up to Girl Reporter Incident
So, Girl Reporter did call back and ask to speak with the manager. Good girl.
My manager told me she was crappy and snippy. My ability to correctly judge people's characters over the phone is improving.
I figure that if I have to work retail, I might as well try to better myself, whether it is my palette, my kitchen utensils, or ability to read other people. There are several mental roads you can follow if you work long term retail: grouchy, mean drunk that people are scared to fire; sweet, chatty lady that fudges up transactions but is just so nice; and weirdly intuitive half-psychic clerk. That's what I'm going for. Aiming real high.
My manager told me she was crappy and snippy. My ability to correctly judge people's characters over the phone is improving.
I figure that if I have to work retail, I might as well try to better myself, whether it is my palette, my kitchen utensils, or ability to read other people. There are several mental roads you can follow if you work long term retail: grouchy, mean drunk that people are scared to fire; sweet, chatty lady that fudges up transactions but is just so nice; and weirdly intuitive half-psychic clerk. That's what I'm going for. Aiming real high.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Raise your hand if you are affected by the economy.
The phone rang. I answered it. That is always a mistake. The caller identified herself as a "reporting student" from the university. She said she was writing a paper and wanted a quote from a local business on whether or not we were affected by this down-turn in the economy.
I was not touching that. Although it is probably harmless, any paper that could potentially be published could affect our business and I don't want my name and unofficial statement tied to it. I politely told her that she would get the best answer if she called back tomorrow and asked to speak with the manager. She seemed irritated that I wouldn't just tell her something. I don't care what sort of dead-line she has; call me paranoid, but I am not potentially compromising my job so that some 19-year-old can finish the paper she has put off until the last minute. And doesn't it seem like a reporter would come across reluctant interviewees and she should just learn to deal with it?
I am probably being a bitch and reading more emotion into the conversation than actually was there. Or maybe not. I am no reporting student, writing for grades and milking financial aid; I am just a clerk and there are a hundred people more educated than me waiting to take my job.
I was not touching that. Although it is probably harmless, any paper that could potentially be published could affect our business and I don't want my name and unofficial statement tied to it. I politely told her that she would get the best answer if she called back tomorrow and asked to speak with the manager. She seemed irritated that I wouldn't just tell her something. I don't care what sort of dead-line she has; call me paranoid, but I am not potentially compromising my job so that some 19-year-old can finish the paper she has put off until the last minute. And doesn't it seem like a reporter would come across reluctant interviewees and she should just learn to deal with it?
I am probably being a bitch and reading more emotion into the conversation than actually was there. Or maybe not. I am no reporting student, writing for grades and milking financial aid; I am just a clerk and there are a hundred people more educated than me waiting to take my job.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Saddest Plastic Bag Story in the World
I was ringing this customer one day. She was an older woman, pleasant, but sort of ordinary. I was in a crappy mood that day, so I was judging everything about everyone. I asked her if she needed a bag. She said she did and actually asked if she could have a big one even though her purchases would easily fit inside a medium size bag.
When I bent down to grab a bag, I rolled my eyes, but was all fake, gracious smiles when I rose up. Our transaction should have been over. I gave her pathetic, wasteful ass the big flippin bag she wanted. But then she had to tell me how she uses the large bags to line the car seat so that she can more easily swivel her disabled husband out. I glanced out the window and there, in the handicap stop, I saw a silhouette of a larger man, on the passenger side of a crappy old car.
I thought about how durable our plastic bags are and how long it must take them to wear one out. I imagined that the wife was probably on her biennial shopping trip. She comes to the store, gets one pretty little knick-knack and a big plastic bag and the rest of the time they are frugal little mice because their health problems consume them.
Goddamn it I am a jerk.
When I bent down to grab a bag, I rolled my eyes, but was all fake, gracious smiles when I rose up. Our transaction should have been over. I gave her pathetic, wasteful ass the big flippin bag she wanted. But then she had to tell me how she uses the large bags to line the car seat so that she can more easily swivel her disabled husband out. I glanced out the window and there, in the handicap stop, I saw a silhouette of a larger man, on the passenger side of a crappy old car.
I thought about how durable our plastic bags are and how long it must take them to wear one out. I imagined that the wife was probably on her biennial shopping trip. She comes to the store, gets one pretty little knick-knack and a big plastic bag and the rest of the time they are frugal little mice because their health problems consume them.
Goddamn it I am a jerk.
The (sh)It Bag
I just learned that my store spends $18,000 a year on plastic bags. They are heavy-duty plastic with our logo printed on them and we use 3 different sizes, the largest one capable of bearing 35-40 pounds.
We are a locally owned business, one-of-a-kind, with the original owner still acting as buyer. We employee 20-40 people depending on the time of year. So $18,000 a year is like, a full-time minimum wage worker's yearly salary.
Personally, I hate taking bags at stores. For many years, I have avoided it whenever possible. I am THRILLED that it is becoming fashionable to have your own tote or to not use a bag at all, especially when it is something ridiculous to have in a bag, like a bag.
It has been my routine when ringing up a customer to ask if they "need" a bag, instead of automatically putting items in bags or asking if they "want" a bag. Whether they are aware of it or not, people actually consider whether or not they need a bag.
It seems like one of the simplest things we all can do to help each other out. Not only are we creating less waste when we don't take bags; it may also help that store to stay in business. It is a small thing, but those things add up. Those large plastic bags cost us $.45 apiece. Think about how much a bag costs next time you take one. If we started charging customers for each bag they "needed," you can bet they would be more willing to throw items in their purse or hold them under their arms.
One thing that customers always say that I am so tired of hearing is "I bring my canvas bags with me, but I always forget them in the car!" And everyone is too lazy to go back to their car to get their bags. No way would they pile groceries back in their cart after paying and put them in the bags at the car. I tell customers, in an encouraging way, that it is just a matter of retraining yourself. But people seem very slow to change their methods.
One customer made the most brilliant statement. She was shopping with a friend and the friend tried to pull the "I forgot my bags in the car" routine. Customer said "You know what I do when I forget my bags? I carry everything out in my arms. It is awkward and embarrassing, but I do it to punish myself. After doing that 3 or 4 times, I didn't forget my bags anymore."
Sometimes, it is possible for a customer to be my hero, if just for one day.
Someday I will tell you the saddest plastic bag story in the world.
We are a locally owned business, one-of-a-kind, with the original owner still acting as buyer. We employee 20-40 people depending on the time of year. So $18,000 a year is like, a full-time minimum wage worker's yearly salary.
Personally, I hate taking bags at stores. For many years, I have avoided it whenever possible. I am THRILLED that it is becoming fashionable to have your own tote or to not use a bag at all, especially when it is something ridiculous to have in a bag, like a bag.
It has been my routine when ringing up a customer to ask if they "need" a bag, instead of automatically putting items in bags or asking if they "want" a bag. Whether they are aware of it or not, people actually consider whether or not they need a bag.
It seems like one of the simplest things we all can do to help each other out. Not only are we creating less waste when we don't take bags; it may also help that store to stay in business. It is a small thing, but those things add up. Those large plastic bags cost us $.45 apiece. Think about how much a bag costs next time you take one. If we started charging customers for each bag they "needed," you can bet they would be more willing to throw items in their purse or hold them under their arms.
One thing that customers always say that I am so tired of hearing is "I bring my canvas bags with me, but I always forget them in the car!" And everyone is too lazy to go back to their car to get their bags. No way would they pile groceries back in their cart after paying and put them in the bags at the car. I tell customers, in an encouraging way, that it is just a matter of retraining yourself. But people seem very slow to change their methods.
One customer made the most brilliant statement. She was shopping with a friend and the friend tried to pull the "I forgot my bags in the car" routine. Customer said "You know what I do when I forget my bags? I carry everything out in my arms. It is awkward and embarrassing, but I do it to punish myself. After doing that 3 or 4 times, I didn't forget my bags anymore."
Sometimes, it is possible for a customer to be my hero, if just for one day.
Someday I will tell you the saddest plastic bag story in the world.
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