Work

i always like reading people's thoughts about work. it's interesting to me that people can be so rude. sometimes it seems as if they think people who work in service really aren't people at all. they are just there to clean up the mess or find invisible pieces of clothing.

a few months ago a lady wanted a dressing room. she had a whole cart full of clothes. i told her she could take five items in with her at a time. i turned around. when i looked again,  the room had swallowed the lady and her cart whole. i knocked on the door and told her again. her excuse was that her purse was buried beneath all of those clothes. i started to call a manager when another customer told me to tell her so what? the lady with all the clothes let me in the room; she had unearthed the purse. she had me return the clothes to the cart while she stood there, holding a shirt to her chest. later customers complained that she would come out of the dressing room and grab shirts or pants half dressed. of course she had underwear and pants and she was probably holding a shirt up to herself but you're not supposed to do that. indecent exposure. and what do think she did with all of those clothes when she was done? she piled all of them up on the bench next to the fitting rooms.

then there are the people who want to try things on after the fitting rooms are closed. most people understand. one lady said, well, i'm not even gonna buy 'em then. two minutes later she asked me if she could exchange them at a different branch if she had the receipt. why would you stop shopping at a store just because i couldn't let you in the fitting room?

the day before easter it was so busy one of the managers had my run a lane for a few minutes. the first person i checked out bought an easter lily. apparently she didn't want the excess dirt because she took the lily out of the pot, shook it and then dumped the dirt from the pot onto the floor. i couldn't believe it. her husband didn't say anything but i'm sure he must have been embarrassed. i don't know why she didn't wait until she got outside.

then there are all those times people call on the phone and have me look for things and i can't find them. but as soon as i hang up, there it is right in front of me. sometimes too, i'll look for something and won't be able to find it but according to the computer we have 33 cans of it! cashiers call all the time for price checks and to see if an item is really on sale. i'll say sure there's a sale sign there. after i hang up i realise that the sale was really for the shirt on the shelve above.

the other day some lady wanted me to see if there was a tank that came in small. it wasn't out on the floor so i looked it up on the computer. i couldn't find the upc anywhere. so i told we didn't have it. she wanted me to go in the backroom and look. i told that would require me to open every single cardboard box back there. she threw up her hands and walked away mumbling things like lazy, and doesn't do anything, won't do a thing.

there are creepy people too. they try to get you to talk or smile. ick. one guy got upset because i wouldn't smile. he was married and had two daughters. he said my teeth weren't stars, they didn't only come out at night. not cool.

anyway. those are my work stories.