Haven't we all been there at some point? We've said "Yes" to someone because we didn't want to hurt their feelings even though we really didn't want to agree. Well, that's what happened to me.
This girl that I'm just causal friends with told her mom that I had said we had lost two people at the store I work at. Later, her mom asked me if it was okay for her to use me as a reference. I mean, what was I supposed to say? "No, because I really don't like you"? Of course, I said yes and (of course, grrr) my manger hired her.
Since that time almost a month ago, working there has turned into a deeper level of hell.
She's already annoying. She thinks she knows everything because she worked at a similar store before back in the Southeast part of the United States. But, the thing is: that store was independent. They could make whatever rules they wanted to. We're in a chain. We don't make our rules; corporate does.
Somehow she has yet to grasp MANY concepts. Or maybe it's just that she refuses to accept reality.
1. You CANNOTread/use the materials we sell during slow times at the store.
But apparently where she used to work, the manager encouraged them to do that during "down time" in order for them to become familiar with what they were selling. Well, sorry, but corporate is not paying you to sit on your butt and read.
2. You don't get to close the registers right away.
Especially since you've only been there a month and still have no idea what you're doing. For all we know, you could be a whackjob who steals money from the registers. I've been working there for over a year now and I've just now officially learned how to close the registers because she is now the low-man on the totem pole. For some reason, she believes that vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms is beneath her and has refused to do it before. And then tonight she made a comment to me that she wouldn't need to clean if someone would just teach her how to close. So, I just told her, "Well, that's not going to happen until someone new comes along and you're not at the bottom of the ladder anymore. So, sorry, but that is not going to happen." She didn't say a word.
3. You CANNOT steal numbers and brag about telling certain coworkers off to other coworkers.
Like many other companies, our company requires that we meet certain sales goals. We're tracked on three seperate entities, sort of speak. We're tracked on two different materials we need to sell and one service that we provide. We're also tracked on membership cards and our e-mail capture. At the moment, she is above quite a few people at the store, mostly because she doesn't share. Among us, we typically share the items we're tracked on if we know that we're up in that area and who we're working with isn't. She doesn't. But then--get this--I'm ringing someone up and one of the items is something we can provide a service on and she makes this comment while standing their in front of the customer that she needs that service for the day to meet her numbers. First of all: she's already up 3% in that area. Second of all: I was not about to give the sell to her. Who does she think she is anyway? I felt like tellling her to get out of my face.
That same night, she was bragging to me about telling two of the guys I work with off about different things. I asked them both about it today. And, guess what? NEITHER OF THEM KNEW WHAT SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT! Now, I understand one of them not knowing. But both? Could she really be anymore of a drama queen and a liar?
Then tonight she was relating this story to me about something she saw on Facebook. I got on tonight to see if it was true and she twisted everything around and added a bunch of stuff.
So here is my decision: As soon as my manger gets back from his week vacation, I am asking for him to never have me work with her again if possible. And when he asks me why, I'll say it's because I don't like her.
How's that sound?
I am someone who does not like confrontation. And she's one that ALWAYS wants confrontation. And she brags about putting this person and that person in their place. Well, I've got news for her: She DOES NOT want to get on my bad side. Because, yes, I fear confrontation. But when it happens, that person better watch out. Because I get mean. Really mean. And she better watch out because I could tear her apart with everything I know from her daughter. I know I sound dramatic, but the sad truth is, that's how I am. I get really, really mean. Ask anybody I know and they could tell you.
So the moral of the story, kids? DON'T WORK WITH YOUR FRIENDS!!! OR YOU FRIENDS' MOMS. Just don't do it, okay? No matter how much you know that they need the money. It is not worth it. Just trust me. Repeat after me: It. Is. Not. Worth. It. Good job.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Fullmetal Alchemist
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost.That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth..."
I had never even heard of this show until one of my guy friends told me about it back in 11th grade (2008-09). He told me about how great a show it was and it was really cool and I had to watch it. I just told him that I would check it out if I ever saw it. I, of course, didn't see it for months and then one night I saw there was an episode playing on the Cartoon Network. So I stopped and watched it and by the end of it I was completely confused and didn't understand why he would ever like it.
First of all, Fullmetal Alchemist is an anime show based off of a manga. The show does not stay true to the manga, as so often shows do not stay true to what they're based off of. It, of course, orginated in Asia in the early 2000s and has since been dubbed into English (voice actors who speak English have redone the voices from the original Japanese, the anime has been changed so that the characters mouths form the English words, and they also translated everything written in Japanese on the screen into English).
Fullmetal Alchemist, or "FMA" as I like to call it for short, is mostly about the science of alchemy. Alchemy in this show has to deal with knowing the properties of elements and being able to break those elements down and create something else. For example, something used more than once in the show is dirt being changed from dirt into the shape of a horse. Fullmetal Alchemist follows the story of two brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who are only a year apart in age (if I remember right. Please don't sick a homonculi on me if I'm wrong, diehard FMA fans). At a young age, their father leaves to fight in a war that is occuring, leaving them with just their mother in a tiny town. A few years go by, and the brothers discover the science of alchemy from their father's books that he has written about it (their father is a master of alchemy). Their mother encourages them a bit in it and doesn't seem to mind their curiosity. Their mother later becomes ill and unfortunately passes away, leaving the two brothers to fend for themselves at around 10 years of age. They become obessesed with bringing her back through the forbidden science of human alchemy. The result is only ruin. Alphonse loses his entire body to the terrible reaction that comes from their attempt and Edward loses his right arm and left leg. However, Edward is able to connect Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor and is therefore able to keep his brother with him. From there, the story takes a turn to the brothers trying to locate something called a Philosopher's Stone. The Philosopher's Stone is a fabled stone said to allow the possesor to be able to break the rules of alchemy by disregrading the rule of equivalent exchange (quoted above in red). If they were to possess this stone, they would be able to regain their bodies without having to give anything else up. Many, many other trials capture the brothers but they stay true to their goal to the end of the show.
Quick Review: I would suggest even trying to watch the first couple episodes. The first is a bit difficult to understand because the first episode picks up in the brother's current present in which they're involved in a situation dealing with searching for the Philosopher's Stone. The second episode on goes back in time to show how Edward and Alphonse got to their current present. There are many good characters in this show that will capture your heart. I found myself getting attached to certain characters, of course. The struggle of the boys' tugs at your heart as well. The show encompasses a lot of things: drama, depression, war, differences in religion and culture, the military, the struggle to survive, loyalty, family, desperation--to name a few.
There are only two seasons to it encompassing about 50ish episodes if I remember right. I personally watched the DVDs of the seasons because my guy friend was able to give them to me; however, I was able to watch the episodes online at a site called watchdub (dot) com.
I loved the show. Love the characters. Love the storyline. However, I hated the ending along with many other viewers. The ending was touching but at the same time infuriating.
Favorite Characters: For anyone who has seen the series previously, and are interested, here are my favorite characters:
This is EXTREMELY difficult for me! I love so many characters! So I try to break it down to a favorite for each group. Is that cheating? Probably.
Resembool- Edward Elric aka The Fullmetal Alchemist. What can I say? I love the short (teehee) blonde kid with the golden eyes. I find him so easily loveable. So dedicated to righting the wrongs he's made in his life. So determined to keep true to himself and to his brother.
Winry Rockbell. How can you not like Winry? She's a genius when it comes to automail. She cares so much about the brothers and will do anything for them. Plus, I love how she geeks out over anything mechanically related.
Other likeables for me include Ed and Al's mother Trisha, their father Hohenheim aka Hohenheim of Light, and Alphonse, of course.
Central/Military- This is probably one of the hardest ones! Narrowed it down to three though there are others as well.
Colonel Roy Mustang aka The Flame Alchemist. Don't ask me how I can find animated characters attractive. I've always been like that ever since I was a child. I don't know why I like Colonel Mustang. I just do. He really fascinated me with how he dealt with how he acted during the Ishbal rebellion. There's something mysterious about him which gets me too. After the famous "All women will have to wear tiny miniskirts!" episode, I was sold.
Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes (aka Brigadier General Maes Hughes). Once again, how can you not like this character? He's such a loving father and husband. He's always able to lighten the mood with his spastic craziness of his love for his daughter. "Look at Elicia! Isn't she just the cutest?!" Despite your first impression that the guy is crazy and spastic, he's actually quite smart and loyal. Definitely one of my favorite characters out of the entire show.
Major Alex Louis Armstrong aka The Strong Arm Alchemist. I know a lot of people find him annoying, but I can't help liking him. He cracks me up every single time he whips his shirt off or talks about a technique that "has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" He's so caring about Ed and Al too. He also cracks me up because you never see his mouth but only his mustache moves when he speaks.
Other likeables include Sheska (she's such a spastic, crazy girl. She cracks me up with all of her noises. Also with her theory of the homonculi. "Juliet Douglas is....an alien!"), Second Lieutenant Maria Ross, Sergeant Denny Brosh, and Lietuenant Riza Hawkeye.
Homunculi- Wrath. Wrath is my absolute favorite homonculus. From the first time I saw him on the island with those huge blue eyes and long black hair that hid his face, I couldn't help making him my favorite. Lot of viewers don't like Wrath because he's always crying and lots of the time doesn't make much sense with what he wants and his motives, but I, for one, love the little guy. Even when he's trying to take somebody's body for his own and or is choking someone who loves him, I love the stupid kid. Don't ask me why. I just do.
Other likeables are Lust and Greed. I find Gluttony cute as well near the end. "Where is my Lust??"
Random Charcters- Rose (from the first episode), Nina (Dr. Tucker's daughter), Marta (one of the chimeras), and Klaus (the girl who looks like a boy at first in the episode with the man attaching souls to the dolls).
Okay, my fandom rant is over. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I'll probably post more about this show in the future.
I had never even heard of this show until one of my guy friends told me about it back in 11th grade (2008-09). He told me about how great a show it was and it was really cool and I had to watch it. I just told him that I would check it out if I ever saw it. I, of course, didn't see it for months and then one night I saw there was an episode playing on the Cartoon Network. So I stopped and watched it and by the end of it I was completely confused and didn't understand why he would ever like it.
First of all, Fullmetal Alchemist is an anime show based off of a manga. The show does not stay true to the manga, as so often shows do not stay true to what they're based off of. It, of course, orginated in Asia in the early 2000s and has since been dubbed into English (voice actors who speak English have redone the voices from the original Japanese, the anime has been changed so that the characters mouths form the English words, and they also translated everything written in Japanese on the screen into English).
Fullmetal Alchemist, or "FMA" as I like to call it for short, is mostly about the science of alchemy. Alchemy in this show has to deal with knowing the properties of elements and being able to break those elements down and create something else. For example, something used more than once in the show is dirt being changed from dirt into the shape of a horse. Fullmetal Alchemist follows the story of two brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who are only a year apart in age (if I remember right. Please don't sick a homonculi on me if I'm wrong, diehard FMA fans). At a young age, their father leaves to fight in a war that is occuring, leaving them with just their mother in a tiny town. A few years go by, and the brothers discover the science of alchemy from their father's books that he has written about it (their father is a master of alchemy). Their mother encourages them a bit in it and doesn't seem to mind their curiosity. Their mother later becomes ill and unfortunately passes away, leaving the two brothers to fend for themselves at around 10 years of age. They become obessesed with bringing her back through the forbidden science of human alchemy. The result is only ruin. Alphonse loses his entire body to the terrible reaction that comes from their attempt and Edward loses his right arm and left leg. However, Edward is able to connect Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor and is therefore able to keep his brother with him. From there, the story takes a turn to the brothers trying to locate something called a Philosopher's Stone. The Philosopher's Stone is a fabled stone said to allow the possesor to be able to break the rules of alchemy by disregrading the rule of equivalent exchange (quoted above in red). If they were to possess this stone, they would be able to regain their bodies without having to give anything else up. Many, many other trials capture the brothers but they stay true to their goal to the end of the show.
Quick Review: I would suggest even trying to watch the first couple episodes. The first is a bit difficult to understand because the first episode picks up in the brother's current present in which they're involved in a situation dealing with searching for the Philosopher's Stone. The second episode on goes back in time to show how Edward and Alphonse got to their current present. There are many good characters in this show that will capture your heart. I found myself getting attached to certain characters, of course. The struggle of the boys' tugs at your heart as well. The show encompasses a lot of things: drama, depression, war, differences in religion and culture, the military, the struggle to survive, loyalty, family, desperation--to name a few.
There are only two seasons to it encompassing about 50ish episodes if I remember right. I personally watched the DVDs of the seasons because my guy friend was able to give them to me; however, I was able to watch the episodes online at a site called watchdub (dot) com.
I loved the show. Love the characters. Love the storyline. However, I hated the ending along with many other viewers. The ending was touching but at the same time infuriating.
Favorite Characters: For anyone who has seen the series previously, and are interested, here are my favorite characters:
This is EXTREMELY difficult for me! I love so many characters! So I try to break it down to a favorite for each group. Is that cheating? Probably.
Resembool- Edward Elric aka The Fullmetal Alchemist. What can I say? I love the short (teehee) blonde kid with the golden eyes. I find him so easily loveable. So dedicated to righting the wrongs he's made in his life. So determined to keep true to himself and to his brother.
Winry Rockbell. How can you not like Winry? She's a genius when it comes to automail. She cares so much about the brothers and will do anything for them. Plus, I love how she geeks out over anything mechanically related.
Other likeables for me include Ed and Al's mother Trisha, their father Hohenheim aka Hohenheim of Light, and Alphonse, of course.
Central/Military- This is probably one of the hardest ones! Narrowed it down to three though there are others as well.
Colonel Roy Mustang aka The Flame Alchemist. Don't ask me how I can find animated characters attractive. I've always been like that ever since I was a child. I don't know why I like Colonel Mustang. I just do. He really fascinated me with how he dealt with how he acted during the Ishbal rebellion. There's something mysterious about him which gets me too. After the famous "All women will have to wear tiny miniskirts!" episode, I was sold.
Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes (aka Brigadier General Maes Hughes). Once again, how can you not like this character? He's such a loving father and husband. He's always able to lighten the mood with his spastic craziness of his love for his daughter. "Look at Elicia! Isn't she just the cutest?!" Despite your first impression that the guy is crazy and spastic, he's actually quite smart and loyal. Definitely one of my favorite characters out of the entire show.
Major Alex Louis Armstrong aka The Strong Arm Alchemist. I know a lot of people find him annoying, but I can't help liking him. He cracks me up every single time he whips his shirt off or talks about a technique that "has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" He's so caring about Ed and Al too. He also cracks me up because you never see his mouth but only his mustache moves when he speaks.
Other likeables include Sheska (she's such a spastic, crazy girl. She cracks me up with all of her noises. Also with her theory of the homonculi. "Juliet Douglas is....an alien!"), Second Lieutenant Maria Ross, Sergeant Denny Brosh, and Lietuenant Riza Hawkeye.
Homunculi- Wrath. Wrath is my absolute favorite homonculus. From the first time I saw him on the island with those huge blue eyes and long black hair that hid his face, I couldn't help making him my favorite. Lot of viewers don't like Wrath because he's always crying and lots of the time doesn't make much sense with what he wants and his motives, but I, for one, love the little guy. Even when he's trying to take somebody's body for his own and or is choking someone who loves him, I love the stupid kid. Don't ask me why. I just do.
Other likeables are Lust and Greed. I find Gluttony cute as well near the end. "Where is my Lust??"
Random Charcters- Rose (from the first episode), Nina (Dr. Tucker's daughter), Marta (one of the chimeras), and Klaus (the girl who looks like a boy at first in the episode with the man attaching souls to the dolls).
Okay, my fandom rant is over. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I'll probably post more about this show in the future.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Getting Organized Is Hard
Getting organized is hard.
Some people naturally have the ability to keep their things and life organized. I can keep my life organized pretty easily. But when it comes to something like my room, it's practically hopeless. I'm talking a total disaster. I can keep things off the floor for a few days only. Then it's like my brain can't handle it and I end up throwing things on the floor and leaving them until someone complains to me how badly my room looks. Or, if no one does, after a few weeks of not being able to even walk to my bed without side-stepping things, I will make myself clean it up.
What doesn't make sense is that I am naturally a semi-perfectionist. The only thing that gets in the way of my perfectionism is my laziness. I know, laziness and perfectionism in the same person. Weird, huh? The easiest way to show you what I mean is that as soon as I start to clean up my room, everything has to be perfect before I can stop. Just like it will take me a couple weeks to clean my bathroom. I let it go as long as I possibly can due to laziness, and then when I get into the cleaning, the perfectionist kicks in and I have to clean until I get every single hair off of everything. If I find one later on, it drives me nuts.
Recently, I took it into my head to organize my entire room. I even went to the extent of purchasing a shoe rack and multiple storage bins for my room. After two days of sorting through random crap I didn't need in the first place, multiple trash bags, and placing things in just the right spot, I am happy to say that my room is indeed organized. I even managed to fit all of my books onto my bookcase without having to buy another one like I thought I needed to. Every thing has been cleaned: my closet, under my bed, my dresser, my bookcase--everything. And I feel so much better now.
But, of course, life sucks at random times.
Now, my parents have decided to recarpet the entire house. Whenever they actually get around to ordering the carpet, I'm going to have to take apart everything I worked so hard on. :( Which means I most likely will leave things messy again because I won't feel like making everything perfect again. The bright side is that I've found many, many, many things that I thought I lost like: my cell phone charger (even though I just bought a new one too!), my thumbdrive, my Nintendo DS Lite charger, and other things that I never used and will probably try to sell on Ebay. Downside: I have now lost my camera charger. Like I said, life sucks at random times.
Some people naturally have the ability to keep their things and life organized. I can keep my life organized pretty easily. But when it comes to something like my room, it's practically hopeless. I'm talking a total disaster. I can keep things off the floor for a few days only. Then it's like my brain can't handle it and I end up throwing things on the floor and leaving them until someone complains to me how badly my room looks. Or, if no one does, after a few weeks of not being able to even walk to my bed without side-stepping things, I will make myself clean it up.
What doesn't make sense is that I am naturally a semi-perfectionist. The only thing that gets in the way of my perfectionism is my laziness. I know, laziness and perfectionism in the same person. Weird, huh? The easiest way to show you what I mean is that as soon as I start to clean up my room, everything has to be perfect before I can stop. Just like it will take me a couple weeks to clean my bathroom. I let it go as long as I possibly can due to laziness, and then when I get into the cleaning, the perfectionist kicks in and I have to clean until I get every single hair off of everything. If I find one later on, it drives me nuts.
Recently, I took it into my head to organize my entire room. I even went to the extent of purchasing a shoe rack and multiple storage bins for my room. After two days of sorting through random crap I didn't need in the first place, multiple trash bags, and placing things in just the right spot, I am happy to say that my room is indeed organized. I even managed to fit all of my books onto my bookcase without having to buy another one like I thought I needed to. Every thing has been cleaned: my closet, under my bed, my dresser, my bookcase--everything. And I feel so much better now.
But, of course, life sucks at random times.
Now, my parents have decided to recarpet the entire house. Whenever they actually get around to ordering the carpet, I'm going to have to take apart everything I worked so hard on. :( Which means I most likely will leave things messy again because I won't feel like making everything perfect again. The bright side is that I've found many, many, many things that I thought I lost like: my cell phone charger (even though I just bought a new one too!), my thumbdrive, my Nintendo DS Lite charger, and other things that I never used and will probably try to sell on Ebay. Downside: I have now lost my camera charger. Like I said, life sucks at random times.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Retail Hell
Today was just another normal day for me at the store. Lots of people everywhere purchasing things and asking questions. Lots of having to move around quickly and get things done. And the bright side of the day was I only got yelled at by two people in my four hour shift. One was over a return, and one was over a coupon.
Yeah, people really want to argue over coupons.
When I first got the job that I have been working at for nearly a year now, a lot of people were jealous of me. It's a small store where a lot of people I know, and a lot of people in general, apply. It has a more "homey" feel to it. And when you are a customer, it seems like it would be one of the best places in Vegas to work because of the atmosphere and the employees and the products.
But, like with anything you get into, once you're in the inside, it's a lot different.
Why are people so needy? That is one question I don't know if I'll ever get a real answer to. I don't know why, but for some reason, nearly every single person who walks into the store seems to not be able to look for things themselves. I wish I got paid by how many people ask me three questions, because I would make a lot more money than what I am actually paid:
1. Do you have this ____________ (fill in with any choice of CD/book/movie)?
2. I didn't bring my coupon. Can I use one of yours?
and the ever so popular
3. Where are your _____________ (fill in with a selection of kids items, videos, music, cards, etc.)?
I can't tell you how many times I am running a transaction and someone walks right into the store and instead of looking at the huge, coloful signs hanging from the ceilings that says where certain items are, they walk right up to the counter, hover over the person I am currently helping and making them feel uncomfortable, and stand there and try to stare me down until I ask them what they want. And then, inevitably, their question is simply "Where are your cards?" And I, once again have to say, "In that back right corner, under the yellow sign that says cards."
All stores or businesses have return policies. I mean, that's pretty much a duh thing. Then why is it that everyone always wants to argue with you over their transaction? My store's policy is that you have to have a receipt for it and return it within 90 days (as long as the item(s) is not clearance) otherwise you will receive a merchandise credit if it's been over 90 days or you don't have the receipt. Also the policy is that in whatever way you paid for it, that's how you will get the money back. For example, you paid with cash, you get cash back. You paid with a Visa, the money gets put back onto your Visa. So why do people want to argue with you when you say you won't give them cash? It drives me nuts.
So this older woman wanted to return a piece of wall art today. I asked her if she was going to be purchasing anything else and I explained to her that we could use the credit from her return towards another item if she liked and then she could pay the difference if it was more money than the original item or that if it was less she would have that money returned to her on her credit card. So first she wants to argue with me that she should receive cash instead. After explaining the policy to her, she says she'll go shop first. Then she decides to approach the register again when there are many people in line. I start to ring her up and realize that the receipt she has is not the right receipt. It is from our store but has different items on it. After I tell her that, she says she's going to look in her car because she knows it has to be in there. I start to ring somebody else up since there was a line and then she comes in and is mad that I did not wait for her to rummage through her car. Since she felt like my attention should've been on her anyway, she continues to ask me questions and I explain to her while ringing up my customer that she will have to receive a merchandise credit because she does not have a receipt for the item and that the policy is that I have to take 25% off of the item (people use so many coupons at the store that they made the policy like that because we wouldn't be able to know if they used a coupon originally or not). I guess it took her a few moments to realize what I said because then she says, "You mean, I'm only going to get 75% of the value of the picture back?!" in an accusatory tone. By now, I am sliding my guest's credit card and I said, "Yes. The return policy is that I must take 25% off." Her: "Well, that's stupid and ridiculous! I paid full price for it! Why should I only get 75% of the value back?!" Me: "Because you don't have your receipt, there is no way for me to see if you paid full price or if you used a coupon. When we give out merchandise credits, we have to automatically take 25% off because of this." Her: "That is absolutely ridiculous!" During this, the assistant manager had come up to take a register because of the long line of customers. Assistant Manager: "Ma'am, that's the store's policy. We can't change the rules." Her: "Well then just give me my picture back!" I suppressed my laugh and put her picture back in a bag and placed the wrong receipt she had brought into it and handed it back to her. Do people really think that taking their items back hurt our feelings?
I am not somebody who has much empathy for people. When it comes down to it, my brain always says, Well, it's their fault anyway. They have to deal with what's their own fault to start with. Not a very good thought process, I know, but I can't make myself have much empathy for people ever. (I don't for myself either, in case you're wondering. I don't agonize over what has happened to me if it resulted from something that was my own fault to being with.) As far as I'm concerned, it was her fault to start with that she brought the wrong receipt. All of this could have been avoided if she had simply paid attention to something as important as dealing with the return of money to her. Now, I don't know her life or anything. As far as I know, she could have been having a terrible day and just wasn't paying attention. But it really irritates me when people want to argue with me over store policies or for not giving them that coupon that they didn't bring when I don't have coupons on hand at the store anyway to give out, because, um, duh, we don't want to have to discount everything to everyone. Profit margin, people.
So, are you the person who thinks: Well, it is their own fault anyway or are you the person who thinks: We need to give everyone a break or are you a 50/50? Am I just a jerk for my thinking or am I right about some things? Let me know what you think.
Yeah, people really want to argue over coupons.
When I first got the job that I have been working at for nearly a year now, a lot of people were jealous of me. It's a small store where a lot of people I know, and a lot of people in general, apply. It has a more "homey" feel to it. And when you are a customer, it seems like it would be one of the best places in Vegas to work because of the atmosphere and the employees and the products.
But, like with anything you get into, once you're in the inside, it's a lot different.
Why are people so needy? That is one question I don't know if I'll ever get a real answer to. I don't know why, but for some reason, nearly every single person who walks into the store seems to not be able to look for things themselves. I wish I got paid by how many people ask me three questions, because I would make a lot more money than what I am actually paid:
1. Do you have this ____________ (fill in with any choice of CD/book/movie)?
2. I didn't bring my coupon. Can I use one of yours?
and the ever so popular
3. Where are your _____________ (fill in with a selection of kids items, videos, music, cards, etc.)?
I can't tell you how many times I am running a transaction and someone walks right into the store and instead of looking at the huge, coloful signs hanging from the ceilings that says where certain items are, they walk right up to the counter, hover over the person I am currently helping and making them feel uncomfortable, and stand there and try to stare me down until I ask them what they want. And then, inevitably, their question is simply "Where are your cards?" And I, once again have to say, "In that back right corner, under the yellow sign that says cards."
All stores or businesses have return policies. I mean, that's pretty much a duh thing. Then why is it that everyone always wants to argue with you over their transaction? My store's policy is that you have to have a receipt for it and return it within 90 days (as long as the item(s) is not clearance) otherwise you will receive a merchandise credit if it's been over 90 days or you don't have the receipt. Also the policy is that in whatever way you paid for it, that's how you will get the money back. For example, you paid with cash, you get cash back. You paid with a Visa, the money gets put back onto your Visa. So why do people want to argue with you when you say you won't give them cash? It drives me nuts.
So this older woman wanted to return a piece of wall art today. I asked her if she was going to be purchasing anything else and I explained to her that we could use the credit from her return towards another item if she liked and then she could pay the difference if it was more money than the original item or that if it was less she would have that money returned to her on her credit card. So first she wants to argue with me that she should receive cash instead. After explaining the policy to her, she says she'll go shop first. Then she decides to approach the register again when there are many people in line. I start to ring her up and realize that the receipt she has is not the right receipt. It is from our store but has different items on it. After I tell her that, she says she's going to look in her car because she knows it has to be in there. I start to ring somebody else up since there was a line and then she comes in and is mad that I did not wait for her to rummage through her car. Since she felt like my attention should've been on her anyway, she continues to ask me questions and I explain to her while ringing up my customer that she will have to receive a merchandise credit because she does not have a receipt for the item and that the policy is that I have to take 25% off of the item (people use so many coupons at the store that they made the policy like that because we wouldn't be able to know if they used a coupon originally or not). I guess it took her a few moments to realize what I said because then she says, "You mean, I'm only going to get 75% of the value of the picture back?!" in an accusatory tone. By now, I am sliding my guest's credit card and I said, "Yes. The return policy is that I must take 25% off." Her: "Well, that's stupid and ridiculous! I paid full price for it! Why should I only get 75% of the value back?!" Me: "Because you don't have your receipt, there is no way for me to see if you paid full price or if you used a coupon. When we give out merchandise credits, we have to automatically take 25% off because of this." Her: "That is absolutely ridiculous!" During this, the assistant manager had come up to take a register because of the long line of customers. Assistant Manager: "Ma'am, that's the store's policy. We can't change the rules." Her: "Well then just give me my picture back!" I suppressed my laugh and put her picture back in a bag and placed the wrong receipt she had brought into it and handed it back to her. Do people really think that taking their items back hurt our feelings?
I am not somebody who has much empathy for people. When it comes down to it, my brain always says, Well, it's their fault anyway. They have to deal with what's their own fault to start with. Not a very good thought process, I know, but I can't make myself have much empathy for people ever. (I don't for myself either, in case you're wondering. I don't agonize over what has happened to me if it resulted from something that was my own fault to being with.) As far as I'm concerned, it was her fault to start with that she brought the wrong receipt. All of this could have been avoided if she had simply paid attention to something as important as dealing with the return of money to her. Now, I don't know her life or anything. As far as I know, she could have been having a terrible day and just wasn't paying attention. But it really irritates me when people want to argue with me over store policies or for not giving them that coupon that they didn't bring when I don't have coupons on hand at the store anyway to give out, because, um, duh, we don't want to have to discount everything to everyone. Profit margin, people.
So, are you the person who thinks: Well, it is their own fault anyway or are you the person who thinks: We need to give everyone a break or are you a 50/50? Am I just a jerk for my thinking or am I right about some things? Let me know what you think.
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