this clerk's life

While walking to work today, with great reluctance, grouchy, wanting more sleep and coffee and sunshine, a guy at a bus stop asked me for spare change.  Since I was not at work and being paid for pleasantness, I could show my true crappy self.  Luckily, I gave a restrained, cool "No" while my thoughts seethed "getajobfuckinghoboihavetogotoworkwhyshouldn'tyoutooi'dlovetostayoutsideinthesunshinetodaywouldn'tthatbenicebutsomeonehastopaymydebtandyourtaxesthat'sanicebenchyoursittingonyou'rewelcome".

I worked with some really great customers today.  It still always amazes me how people ordering custom furniture make it sound like it should be so easy.  "It's JUST like this, but bigger.  How hard can it be?  They just use templates, I'm sure."  Except that you are asking for something for which they probably DON'T have "templates" AND they are trusting that the measurements you gave are correct.  Terrifying.

Then I had a lady ask me to bubble wrap her dried dip mixture package.  You know, just in case she drops it and the paper shatters on the way home.  Herbs and spices everywhere!

Whenever we are closing, I always wonder what people think the proper closing procedure should be, choices in my scenario being 1. closing time, buy your stuff and get the hell out as soon as possible. Better yet, don't come in at closing.  2. if you come in at 1 minute to closing you should get all the time you need to browse and shop, Costco style (or at least what I was told was Costco style.  I could just be perpetuating rumors).  

I have written about this before and I still maintain that you should not go into a store to browse if they are closing soon and if you are there after closing, you should get the hell out.  People want to go home.  Though I'm sure they exist, I have yet to meet someone that is thrilled by surprise after hours work, whatever their profession.  People need to go home, or at least do something else.  You've had a long hard day, filled with frustration and satisfaction?  You are hungry, need to kick your shoes off, have a drink, or do your hobby?  Well that's too fucking bad.  You should be thankful for this customer and their business because they told you so!  

Now I'm at home having a delicious beer and blogging.  

HIGHLIGHTS

-Ever since I watched this episode of Portlandia, I cannot look at bird merch the same way. I have been sick of birds and this was the "nail in the coffin". So when a future bride was buying a bunch of ceramic birds for her bird-themed wedding, I could only sigh. What animal will be the next bird? (By the way, I love real birds. I am just sick of them stuck on everything, as demonstrated in the Portlandia clip).

-Still amazed by the phenomena that when you need to put something back in a store devoid of customers, there will be someone standing right in front of the display which you are needing to return an item. This never stops being weird.

-I am in hate with Debit. Ok, ok. It saves the store a few bucks here and there, which I can appreciate. But debit transactions require a certain amount of precision and interaction for which I do not always have time. Classic example: the distracted mommy. She says debit, I say enter PIN, but she is gone chasing her kid. If I was smart, I am still holding the debit card so that when the opportunity to enter the PIN times out, I can easily reswipe the card without having to ask for it again. BUT, I am often hasty, and that leads to the time consuming job of asking for the card again, explaining that they were not already charged (as they most often think), and going through the PIN entering process again. OH! Error in entering PIN. Please try again. Nope, not the green button, the yellow button. Ok there you go. Cross our fingers and hope it works.

-Evil me: There is this homeless?/ne'er do well man that has been coming in nearly every day, sometimes several times a day. He seems harmless enough, and I get the sense that he is itching to talk to us about making displays, like, he wants to pretend that he works at the store or maybe he just wants to work. ANYWAY, he does not and I get frustrated because I end up babysitting him and his pack and I don't want to be unkind, but I also have a lot more to do than to be 3 hours of entertainment. So I end up going out of my way to NOT engage him because I don't want to have to talk to him for 15 minute intervals.

-Just because you saw something at Starbucks doesn't mean it is a good idea.