The Joy of the Season.
I'm done. It's over. Merry freakin' Christmas!
In the past three days I accomplished what most people take months to do. Of course I'm talking about X-Mas shopping.
I started on Sunday with the Fam, then yesterday and today were all about JR. If I were to be technical I actually started shopping the day after Thanksgiving. But I only got a few items and none of them were big ticket ones.
Now, don't go thinking I just grabbed stuff and randomly wrapped it for people. Every gift was pre-determined. Maybe that's why it was easy to do everyone in a few days. I went in knowing what I wanted (or with a good idea anyway) and got the hell out.
Oddly it wasn't traffic or parking or even other shoppers that got on my nerves. No it was the clerks. I usually cut store employees a lot of slack. I've done their job many times and nothing can beat the hell I went through working at Walt Disney World's busiest store during Christmas.. TRUST ME.
But I was shocked by the little "Power Trips" all the cashiers seemed to be on this year. I had a woman tisk at me in the self-scan line. She TISKED as if I were a seven year old caught with herhand in a cookie jar.
Thinking back I wish I'd had the balls to say something to her, but she wouldn't have given a damn. The middle aged woman was queen of her little four station world and never mind that I'm the one with the college education.
She wasn't the first or the last sales person I came across with a superior attitude. In several stores I was treated like I was imposing on them for asking a question or writing a check. I got sick of the heavy sighs, and eventually stopped asking if I could write a check and simply handed them one.
What annoyed me even more were the people who made a mistake and turned it around to be my fault. Like the girl who forgot to burn me a photo cd at the Meijer photo counter. First she tells me my pictures aren't ready (although it had been almost two hours since I turned in my ONE-hour digital prints.) Then she ran around the back for a minute before coming back and saying she was waiting on the CD to be finished. It was beyond obvious that she'd forgotten to start the CD based on her reaction when she couldn't find my pictures.
Anyway I told her I'd wait and plopped my butt on a stool. I could tell my hovering annoyed her, but my arms were full of stuff I'd found while waiting for my pictures to be done and I didn't have a basket. So finally she brings them to me and has the gall to say "You know, the photo CDs aren't promised in an hour."
Oh really, and where's the freakin' sign that says that? Urg, she messed up but still turned it around to be my fault for not knowing a policy of their's (which isn't posted anywhere, I looked.)
Like I said I usually cut sales people a break. Retail is the one job I won't go back to. Maybe my frustration is because I was trained by Disney that the customer is always right (no matter how stupidly wrong they are.) Or perhaps it's because I've been in their shoes and can see through the act. In their heads they think they're better then the customers, hell they KNOW how to work the cash register and how to fold shirts for display. Life can't get any better than that can it?
Just think, only 370 shopping days until Christmas 2007 ^_^*
In the past three days I accomplished what most people take months to do. Of course I'm talking about X-Mas shopping.
I started on Sunday with the Fam, then yesterday and today were all about JR. If I were to be technical I actually started shopping the day after Thanksgiving. But I only got a few items and none of them were big ticket ones.
Now, don't go thinking I just grabbed stuff and randomly wrapped it for people. Every gift was pre-determined. Maybe that's why it was easy to do everyone in a few days. I went in knowing what I wanted (or with a good idea anyway) and got the hell out.
Oddly it wasn't traffic or parking or even other shoppers that got on my nerves. No it was the clerks. I usually cut store employees a lot of slack. I've done their job many times and nothing can beat the hell I went through working at Walt Disney World's busiest store during Christmas.. TRUST ME.
But I was shocked by the little "Power Trips" all the cashiers seemed to be on this year. I had a woman tisk at me in the self-scan line. She TISKED as if I were a seven year old caught with herhand in a cookie jar.
Thinking back I wish I'd had the balls to say something to her, but she wouldn't have given a damn. The middle aged woman was queen of her little four station world and never mind that I'm the one with the college education.
She wasn't the first or the last sales person I came across with a superior attitude. In several stores I was treated like I was imposing on them for asking a question or writing a check. I got sick of the heavy sighs, and eventually stopped asking if I could write a check and simply handed them one.
What annoyed me even more were the people who made a mistake and turned it around to be my fault. Like the girl who forgot to burn me a photo cd at the Meijer photo counter. First she tells me my pictures aren't ready (although it had been almost two hours since I turned in my ONE-hour digital prints.) Then she ran around the back for a minute before coming back and saying she was waiting on the CD to be finished. It was beyond obvious that she'd forgotten to start the CD based on her reaction when she couldn't find my pictures.
Anyway I told her I'd wait and plopped my butt on a stool. I could tell my hovering annoyed her, but my arms were full of stuff I'd found while waiting for my pictures to be done and I didn't have a basket. So finally she brings them to me and has the gall to say "You know, the photo CDs aren't promised in an hour."
Oh really, and where's the freakin' sign that says that? Urg, she messed up but still turned it around to be my fault for not knowing a policy of their's (which isn't posted anywhere, I looked.)
Like I said I usually cut sales people a break. Retail is the one job I won't go back to. Maybe my frustration is because I was trained by Disney that the customer is always right (no matter how stupidly wrong they are.) Or perhaps it's because I've been in their shoes and can see through the act. In their heads they think they're better then the customers, hell they KNOW how to work the cash register and how to fold shirts for display. Life can't get any better than that can it?
Just think, only 370 shopping days until Christmas 2007 ^_^*
posted by SassyJill at 3:41 PM
2 Comments:
Really sis, you didn't have to get me anything. I know how much you hate shopping =)
Oh, I was just going to reveal too much about your present and I stopped myself. Tisk tisk -- only a few days to go. I'd better not ruin your surprise now.
I still think nothing beats the power trip of this woman I used to work with at Mammoth Video. We had this policy where if you called and asked us to hold a video we would only hold it for 1 hour. But, every Friday the same guy would call and ask us to hold a movie for him but he needed us to hold it for 1.5-2 hours so that he had time to pick up the kids, drive home from work and stop by the store. This was back in the mostly pre-cell phone days so he couldn't call in route. Anyway, this woman would always put his videos (also pre-DVD at the time) back at exactly the 1 hour mark. I mean, the woman would time it to the second. She got this big thrill from him coming in and seeing that his video was checked out. She liked that power. It was sad really. But, I was her boss (kinda -- technically I was just a "key keeper" or some nonsense like that) so I had to reprimand her for mistreating loyal customers and she said she was just following policy. Whatever lady, get a life!
Merry Christmas!
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