2/25/02
I was working the service desk when a jerk who'd already asked an inappropriate question at Checkout came my way. "I need this," she said, and told me what she wanted. It was software. We don't carry any software, and I told her so. She found this preposterous, and got mad at me because she had asked for help at the checkout counter and then I was no help either and I had to send her BACK to checkout to buy the books she'd already picked out. "This is ridiculous! I go there, THEY can't help me, I come to you, YOU can't help me, and now I have to go BACK there. . . ." Ma'am, checkout is ON your way out and I physically don't have a register to check you out, not to mention my inability to change the items our store carries to fit your personal needs. Thank you.
As I was about to leave today, a lady called about a book. We didn't have it on the shelf but we were supposed to carry it, so I told her the other store might still have a copy. Then she asked me to call them for her. Um. I told her that I could put her on hold and then call them for her if she wanted, or she could call the other store herself. She chose the inconvenient option. How awesome of her to not call them herself and keep me busy when it would take the same amount of time for her to ask them. Grr.
2/24/02
A lady at Customer Service wished to have last week's issue of a weekly magazine, and was standing there with this week's issue clutched in her fist, all pissed off. I told her we don't keep the old issues, but she insisted that we should still have the old one somewhere and that she needed to "speak to a manager," which of course rings customer service bells for "I don't think you're doing your job right!" So, I went back and informed the manager that she wanted to talk to him. She was gone before he got there, having left this week's issue on the counter as a present for us to put away. Boy, I sure am crushed that we didn't get her $2.95 on THAT sale. . . .
2/23/02
A lady had a pretty bookmark sticking out of her book, and I complimented its design. She thanked me and then opened the book to show that the text of John 3:16 was written on it lower down. She asked me if I knew it. I told her I did, and she replied in this weird flighty voice, "OH, that's the one that saved me! Wow, I had no idea I was a sinner and needed a savior!" Yeah, I wasn't expecting a compliment on her bookmark to turn into a witnessing opportunity.
2/20/02
Today someone was complaining that the book Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul was not in the Christian Living section, and asked me where to find it. All of the Chicken Soup books are together, so I started to tell them that, but instead of "Chicken Soup" I said "Christian Soup." HAHA!
2/18/02
My friend Mike, visiting me at my work, randomly said something vaguely insulting (to me) about one of my book characters, and I grabbed a learning toy called the Phonics Bus and attempted to hit him over the head with it. My manager made me kick him out when it was clear he was encouraging me to horse around.
Today a little girl--she was old enough to know better, I promise--threw an egg-shaped ball across the store randomly and then didn't go pick it up; she instead crossed her arms and then started looking at other things. I crossed my arms. The customer service gal crossed HER arms. Then we started throwing the egg ball at each other and talking loudly about how we shouldn't because we might break something . . . maybe ourselves.
2/17/02
Picture this. A woman is holding two books up at you. One is small and its cover is red and yellow. The other is large and floppy and has a glossy black cover. They are different prices, different titles, and different authors. And the woman's question was, "These are the same book, right?" I couldn't get an answer out of her why in the hell she thought they were "the same book" just because they were on the same subject.
Also, as part of the mood-enhancers for Valentine's Day this year, we had put some other books on love near our Valentine-themed stuffed animals. When the Valentine animals went on sale, some lady seemed to think everything on the table was therefore on sale and argued with me that because it was a "Valentine book" it "should" be half off. Sorry, but all books having to do with love do not equal "Valentine books."
2/16/02
Our other store was late opening today because a manager slept in. After it had been closed after opening time for about an hour, angry women started calling ME on their cell phones, trying to scold me for the problem, which as far as we knew was being taken care of since we'd gotten a hold of the general manager. "There's quite a line out here, you know!" "Why hasn't your other store opened yet?" "Do you realize your other store. . . ." "Do you happen to know WHY the doors are still shut at your other store?" To that last one I just replied, "Yes." She seemed flustered and then asked for the explanation. Yeah, make 'em work for their info!
2/12/02
Cowboy man was back today (see yesterday's entry), with the same questions. "The computers are still down" was not the answer he desired, so he kept asking.
Also, a pushy lady came to me with a question for the Kids' Department: my specialty. I didn't know of either book she wanted, and told her that if we'd gotten them in I would have been the one to put them away, so I figured we probably didn't carry them but couldn't check for sure because the computers were down. She said, "Well, is there anyone ELSE who would know??" I told her I *was* the person who "would know," and that I know we don't have it in the section. Her response was, "Well, I need it, I need to get it." And then she just stood there expectantly like there was something I could do! So I said, "As much as I'd like to, ma'am, I cannot make the book appear out of thin air." She seemed a little shocked, so I placated her: "I'd be willing to call the other store and see if the company carries the book and if so if they have a copy in stock." She was like, "Yes, you do that." So I did. We aren't supposed to carry it, and I told her so. I love being vindicated.
2/11/02
Our computers were down today, and have been since the day before. Some weird cowboy dude wanted to know if we had a particular audio tape, and since it was not on the shelf we had no idea if we could order it or were supposed to have it. But he felt it was necessary to ask anyway, and then to insist that we "should" have it because someone told him we did. I asked him who told him we had it, and he said it was a "mental health practitioner." I asked if said practitioner had personally called us and asked us to hold it, and when he said she hadn't, I informed him that therefore she had no business saying we had it. Incidentally, less than an hour later he asked another store employee the same questions he was asking me, this time insisting that our computers were up now because he could see that they were on. That wasn't the problem; they just wouldn't connect to the network, but "oh, it's on, it must be up; they're making excuses to keep withholding the book from me because they want to stop me from giving them money!" :P
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