August 18, 2007
Sales Effort
We are really overwhelmed, here in America, by the drive to buy, obtain, and shop. Don't we realize we have enough stuff? Why do we collect things like squirrels storing seeds and nuts, frantically waiting for the first blast of winter?
Maybe we who are redeemed have forgotten that the Lord provides for all our needs. We don't need to squirrel stuff away, because though hard times may (and certainly do) come, we need not fear.
It may be that my retail job hypersensitizes me to our crass greed and covetousness. There's a girl I know who gets migraines from bright fluorescent lights. Where she was miserable, her office-mates wondered if she was a little kooky. Maybe it's like that with me. I'm getting a migraine from all the effort being put into chloroforming my common sense and making me feel like I need another house plant or a new color lipstick or a prettier sofa or a more expensive conditioner, where other people just look at me and go "Humph" to themselves when I leave the room.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 08:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 16, 2007
Lessons Learned from Retail #451
No matter how much of a jerk that rude fellow is, if you simply do not answer his rude barbs, he will not win.
You won't win, either, but a draw is better than a win if winning means lowering yourself to his level.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 08:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 26, 2007
Just a little ironic?
I sold a bacon press on Saturday.
It's shaped like a pig.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 09:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 04, 2006
Your Word is a Lamp
Yesterday morning in church I sat there crying. It's such a marked difference from my workplace, to sit in a pew surrounded by people who love me and mean it. My husband, his family (they flew in for Madrigals, yay), and my church people.
I had a bad day Saturday. It's not a good place to work, and I was full up to here [points to eyebrows] but now I'm sick of it. Sick, sick, sick. I've had enough.
So I sat there crying because it's hurtful to be treated unlovingly. It's wrong. Sinful behavior hurts people around you, and Saturday it hurt me.
I wrote about this a few posts ago, and just a reminder, here's something Christ showed me during that prayer session:
But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.
-Psalm 26:11-12
So he already showed me that my workplace is not the place where I belong, the place where I am with like-minded folks. I know that my workplace is where I am surrounded by evil-minded folks who do not love and do not know God. But when the unlovingness comes it still hurts.
So--Sunday I was crying and asking God for the answer. "Jesus, what is the purpose in this? My brain knows you have a purpose, but my heart does not. Please show me."
Here comes the answer!
The very next part of the service was The Reading of the Law, wherein we hear some portion of Scripture. Yesterday: 1 John 3. Read it, if you please.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
And the verses that stood out to me? Written in my Bible as if they were glowing, or bold, or italicised, or hyperlinked? Planned before the foundation of the world to teach me and give me new hope? Placed on the pastor's heart to read yesterday--and the pastor not knowing I needed to hear them? Read them:
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. --I John 3:13-14
A reassurance that my sensitivity to the difference between love and not-love is a right sensitivity. A reminder that there is a real difference between me (part of the body) and Them (not). And a reminder of the Gospel, of the Truth we partake in when we eat the Bread and drink the Wine.
And then we ate communion and it was driven home again. What a blessing to be part of the communion of the Body of Christ. God is faithful.
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December 01, 2006
Various Communication Thoughts
A colleague hates the registers, and prefers unloading trucks. He said to me, "I hate the idea of servitude, being treated like a servant, like the customers are better than I am. I'd rather work with a truck crew, all of us working together to get the task done."
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Are they carts? buggies? or what? In Hawaii, they were called wagons. A Massachusetts customer told me they call them carriages up there. I call them carts and refuse to call them buggies.
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I offered a Department Store Credit card to a customer. She responded (with her head down in her cart retrieving the last of her merchandise), "I done got one." I thought she said 'I don't got one,' so I started in on my high-pressure sales...she turned around in a snit and said, "I said, I done got one!"
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So many people get thrown off when they swipe their credit cards through wrong. They get embarrassed. It's not their fault each store has its own kind of swiper. Why can't they make the illustration better?
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I used to get all flustered when my line stacked up and I was working on a price check. Now I don't care...I just do my job and remind myself that I'll get the order done when I do.
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I was told (via The Grapevine) that my cashiering on Black Friday got noticed. I was the most consistently speedy cashier of the six on my side that day. Nice to get noticed.
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If (and that's a big if!) I'm still cashiering next year, and if I'm opening on Black Friday, I'm going to sing the Parade to Post (you know, the song they play just before a horse race...da da da da-da-da da da-da-da da da da daaaa) right before they open the doors and let the Shopping Horde in. It'll get a laugh from my cashier buddies.
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November 24, 2006
no longer cold hard ball, but still toughened.
psalm 26 helped. you know, we usually think of evildoers as the people in CSI or Law and Order, especially the Special Victims Unit. But having the Psalmist name those sinners who surround me 'evildoers' reminded me of several things:
1. God knows my problem. He already knew I'd be full up to here [points to eyebrows] of this job and all the accoutrements of the retail life. Whew! And I know he already dealt with sin and sinful people and sinful subcultures: what do I think the Redeemer was doing (is doing), after all?
2. God recognizes that it is actually a problem. It is a sinful subculture, and all the marketing and crap is sinful! It is sinfulness, hypocrisy, an assembly of evildoers, wickedness, and they are sinners, bloodthirsty men, their hands are filled with evil devices and bribes!
3. God reminds me of specific solutions to my problem. He reminds me that though I am surrounded, I am still within his steadfast love. I may rest because he vindicates me. I am innocent and my place is where God ordains: in God's house, worshipping him.
4. After all, my foot stands on level ground.
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All this leads me to a more charitable view of the stupid lemming customers: they are stupid lemming customers, but they are so because they are trapped by sin and sinfulness. I've never rung up someone I know to be Redeemed who behaves in such a way as to shame their mother or the Name of their Redeemer. And I've had people come by my register who wear crosses on necklaces, and who wear the cross on their hearts: it's a discernible difference, and sometimes subtle. But a difference nonetheless.
But they are trapped by their culture, just as trapped as a heroin addict (an addiction I've never seen in a person's live) or an alcoholic (an addiction I have seen--it killed my uncle). Just as you feel sorry for the thousands of cattle in feedlots, milling around in that filthy manure-mud, because you know they are destined for the slaughterhouse, so compassion for these poor trapped lemmings has grown in me. They are just as surely lost, and they crave our prayers.
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But I'm still inured to their behavior--mostly. I don't grow as impatient or judgmental...I just don't let their silliness get to me as much. I don't let their passive aggression or their deception or theft or disrespect get under my skin. (Why? Because I recognize myself for who I am--redeemed--and I recognize them for who they are--in need of redemption while being simultaneously part of the assembly of evildoers.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 05:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Run, Rack of Lamb, Run
this morning at 4:30 driving to The Department Store for my Black Friday Shift, we discussed the wisdom of speeding at such an hour. On the biggest shopping day of the year, we figured the cops would be out. we saw none, and i said "they are probably at the donut shop. run, donut, run."
i went on to say that the reason cops have such a donut-eating reputation is that back in the day only donut shops were open 24 hours, and they they'd stop by to have a snack...they were hungry! if it were other 24-hour eateries, like prime rib or rack of lamb shops open all night, we'd see "run, rack of lamb, run" t-shirts instead of "run, donut, run" t-shirts for the mocking of cops.
which is to say that i had a huge post written in my head to document the black friday buffoonery. i shall post it later, after my nap. reading and catching up on blogs, along with the lovely classical Christmas music the Dude is playing on the DirecTV radio channel is relaxing me. so i shall nap. i'll post more later today.
tata for now.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 03:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 14, 2006
Burn
Holy Jesus, you abide in me. Let your truth, your justice, your way burn my heart and my soul till I am nothing but a small pile of ash. Consume me and my anger, my coldness, my indifference, my hardness, and remake me -- transform me! -- till I become more like you despite my cold heart. I've tried to rid myself of this hard ball of cold indifference, but I cannot be the agent of transformation in my own life. You alone, reaching in from outside, from above, must do the work of transformation in my heart, my soul, my mind, my way of being. I must be realigned with you but I can no more realign myself than a painting can level itself...I must have the plumb line of your word to show me what is truly level, and I must have your strong arm reach over and -- just so -- level me, transform me, till I am once again who I desire to be.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 08:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hard Ball of Cold Indifference
[Here's what has been simmering (or festering?) these last few weeks. This is why I haven't been posting in a while. So here's my summary, my rant, my anger, my hard ball of cold indifference.]
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Ah, the Holiday Shopping Season. I refuse to call it Christmas, because Christmas has nothing to do with the consumerist frenzy I observe every day in The Department Store. It's The Holiday Shopping Season. Here are some marked differences between life in a department store and life outside, in the real world.
- The Evergreeny-Red-and-Greeny decorations went up overnight (they worked an overnight shift!) right after the Halloween push was over. So starting the 31st, they worked that evening and all night to get the wreaths, swags, berries and evergreen twigs, posters, and all that crap up. That way shoppers could see the decorations up on the first of November.
- They worked to get the decorations ready for hanging for a couple weeks before Halloween. That means that she was trimming trees, straightening wreath branches, and organizing swags all over the Break Room starting about October 10. Yes, that early.
- The endless soundtrack of kitchy/nostalgic/traditional music has begun. It was very cunningly chosen, to evoke memories and days of yore. It plays all day long in the Store and so it plays all night long in my head.
- There's so much stuff in the store. There's so much more stuff! It's all santas and reindeer and holly leaves and snowmen and candles and peppermints and cranberries and stars and snowflakes. So much of it is coordinated, so that you are tempted to buy the matching placemats, napkins, napkin rings, plates, serving bowls, wall hangings, and santa-head mugs. Ick. It's so cute and tempting but it's really expensive when you load it all in your cart and get to the register.
- It's only mid November and people are already shopping for gifts. They buy, say, one or two or three gifts for each person on their list and end up with $600 (easily) of merchandise. Then they complain about the price. But they are the ones making the decision to follow along (like lemmings to the cliff edge) with Marketing's Master Plan. (You're not a lemming! You're a person! You were created with thought and ration and reason! Why aren't you using it???)
- There's so much more stuff in the store, and there are so many more customers in the store. There are extra-super-spectacular-extended hours more often these days to accomodate all the shoppers for all the extra stuff. Just the amount of people I ring up each day makes my head spin...so many people in the store buying so much stuff!
- Extended hours...even with so, so, so, so many people coming to shop, the store still doesn't really get hopping till 10-11am. Even on a Saturday! Even on a supersaleSaturday, it really doesn't get so busy that it's steady till 10 am or so! So people come in and get stuff that they freely choose to buy, but then complain about the traffic and the busyness in the store and the long lines at the cashier...but don't bother coming in before 9:30. They could come in a little earlier and beat the crowds, but no! They have to come in the same time as all the other stupid lemmings and then complain about it.
- Black Friday is Coming. It's coming, people. My shift starts at 5am. Yikes.
- Marketing. Honestly, do people have no rational thought when it comes to commercials and radio spots and newspaper ads? They see the ad and they don't connect the dots that The Department Store is saying, in effect, "Come here and buy stuff and make your Christmas happy and memorable and suffused with the soft glow of candlelight, firelight, and love." I'm sick to death of marketing.
So the Most Wonderful Time of the Year has pushed me over the edge. I hate marketing and how it seems to short-out rational thought. I hate greed and how much it drives sales. I hate covetousness. I hate manipulation. I hate that I am changing because I spend so much time in this world.
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Here's how I'm changing:
- I don't care as much anymore.
- I see people less as created, dignified Image bearers (like a good Covenant grad does) and more like stupid, easily manipulated lemmings.
- I've had one too many experiences like the following: Customer comes up to register, yapping cheerfully with mother/daughter/motherinlaw/shoppingbuddy, talking animatedly about whatever, seeming like a perfectly nice person. Then she interrups her cheerful demeanor she shines on her shoppingbuddy, and accuses me (either directly or passive-aggressively) of purposefully ringing her stupid santa knickknacky crap whatever as 1.99 more than it was signed as in the back of the store! No joke, folks, she is really good at making me feel like a dummy, a stupid yokel, a badly dressed boor that just fell off the turnip truck or just got off the boat, or an ugly stepsister worthy of being talked to like a stupid tree stump.
- I'm full up to here [points to eyebrows] of self-satisfied divas treating me like crap just because I'm behind the register...that's who I see now, instead of a person--I see a Diva that I loathe. (And that makes me no better than they are...they see nothing but a cashier, I see nothing but a stupid lemming customer.)
- I have no problem interrupting people to answer their question because I know what they are asking before the ask it. (Returns are at customer service...The restroom is in the back of the store, behind customer service...That discount is only good with your Department Store Credit Card...No, that price changed. It's after 1 pm, and the sale prices were advertised till 1pm. Here's the ad; see, it says 1pm...No, we're out of those...No, there are no more in the back; what we have is what's out on the shelves...No, today is not senior day.)
- I don't care when they find themselves trapped by addiction to consumerism. Instead of feeling compassion for these poor souls, trapped like a dolphin in a tuna net in their own desire to possess moremoremore, I despise them for their stupidity and willingness to be duped by sin.
- I compare myself to the stupid lemming customers and find myself superior, and I fail to see that as sin, just as sinful and just as needful of the Redeemer as they are, trapped in their addiction to consuming.
- I'm hard. I have this hard little nub in the bottom of my heart, where I just don't care anymore if people mistreat me or themselves. It's like a calloused spot...and it's a hard little ball of calloused judgment that sits in judgment over the stupid lemming customers and finds them wanting. It's worse than active, bitter hate. It's cold and hard and uncaring. I'm hardened.
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So what does this mean? It means I am officially (though not offically at The Department Store) on the job hunt again. I'll give them my two weeks' notice and begone. Once I find a new job. And it won't be in retail.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 07:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 17, 2006
Cellphone chatting and register shopping
As a cashier, I really get irrittated when you...
- take my questions the wrong way ("No, I don't want a Department Store Charge Card! Don't you know how evil credit cards are!"
- talk to your shopping buddies only, refusing to acknowledge me at all
- chat on your cell phone right in front of me. It's really rude!
- talk too quietly (especially when asking where the restroom is)
- don't listen to my instructions (No, swipe your credit card faster. No, I need to see your ID when I'm done ringing you up. And so on.)
- assume I don't know what I'm doing (No joke, but a lady actually told me quite rudely "Don't forget my daughter's earrings!" I was busy putting her 15 dress shirts into the bag, lady. Sheesh.)
- shop at the register ("I don't know about these pants. What do you think?" Customer holds pants up to self. "Do you think they make me look fat?" Etc.)
Posted by The Newest Worker at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Weekend shoppers
Two customers made me see red Saturday. Literally. (I have always thought that was a figure of speech, but now I realize, blood actually floods your field of vision.)
Customer number one: She was buying Halloween Placemats, Matching Halloween Couch Pillows, Matching Halloween Bowl and Matching Halloween Tea Light Holder. Her total bill was approximately $130. (Yes, that much money for Halloweenie CRAP!) I commented that marketing it corporate would love her; she's doing exactly as they want, and that the set sure did match. (That's my innocuous comment when I hate what the customer is buying: "Boy it sure is ruffled" or "Wow that is quite a set." Most of the time they have no idea that I really thing they are moronic lemmings for spending that much money on CRAP.)
As I was bagging she got a little huffy and said that it's her hard-earned money and she could spend it on anything she wanted. Neither I nor her husband was going to control her spending, no matter if he cut up her credit cards. Wow. She was just a touch defensive, I would think. I zipped my lip and said to myself, "What about her husband's hard-earned money??? The saying 'What's his is ours and what's mine is mine' is false, and she's made the sad mistake of buying into the fantasy."
Moral of this story: Exercise control in all things, including your spending. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Customer number two: It's my habit to begin every customer itneraction with a fascinating series of questions: "Will this be on your Department Store Charge? Do you have a Department Store Charge? Are you interested in applying for a Department Store Charge...you get __% off today just for applying!" I was exercising my routine with this frau when she decided to go ahead and use her Department Store Charge since she had one already. Then she told her teen daughter: "We don't need to tell dad that we used my Department Store Charge. We'll just have $50 more dollars in cash to spend on other things today, like lunch out!"
Grr. Double grr. Her blatant deception of her husband regarding money would have got me on its own, but to involve her daughter in deception and to teach her daughter that it's ok to deceive men? Arrrrrghhhhh! I think you can tell what the moral of this story is.
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And just so you all know, remember that your cashier is there and can hear everything you say and see everything you do. You're not hiding. So mind what you say and doif you don't want it gossipped (or shared, hehheh) all over the store and in the Break Room.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 02:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 18, 2006
Today at the Department Store
Little girls buy toys: Barbies, Polly Pockets. Clothes.
Women buy toys: kitchen stuff! candles and cute couch pillows!
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The counterfeit testing marker makes a light mark on real bills and a Dark Mark on counterfeit bills. Hmm. Any comments, HP-philes?
Posted by The Newest Worker at 10:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 18, 2006
Questions I'm Dying to Ask
"Why are you buying such ugly jewelry? To go with the ugly blouse/skirt/whatever?"
"Do you realize this 40 dollar blouse will be out of style in 6 months? And in 5 years, we'll be watching VH1's "I love 2006" and laughing at this very blouse? You look like you're a Ginger's nasty little sister from Gilligan's Isle."
"Oh, are you pregnant?" (That's a very dangerous question. I remember once I was having coffee with Mike and a stranger on the street asked me when I was due. I looked at him coldly and I told him 'You know, you only make that mistake once--the first time. Are you saying I'm fat? You should never imply that a woman's pregnant unless she tells you or if you see a child emerging from her.')
"Can't you read?"
"Don't you read? We posted signs for you."
"Don't you read the fine print?"
"You think other stores don't post misleading signs?"
"What do you thing The Department Store wants besides your money and more of your money tomorrow? You think The Department Store cares about you as a person?"
"Why are you shopping with a little child long after his lunchtime/naptime/ lunchtime and naptime/shop-till-you-drop time?"
"Why are you treating your child like she's a grownup? She's a child. Let her act like a child."
"Do you realize that this tiny thong costs $20?"
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June 03, 2006
And one more for today
Since customers come and go, and even Rude Queen-Mum-Wannabes eventually have to leave, I have to say that customers aren't the most challenging part of my job.
Colleagues are. Because while customers leave, I see colleagues again. And some of them are (like people in every profession) tough to get along with.
And so, here's some advice for all of you:
Once you're 26 and none of us are in highschool anymore, then please stop acting like you're still the queen of the cliques. You're not. Don't get offended when your quest for power diminishes into blatant manipulation, yet you can't get under my skin.
(Because I've had other jobs than this one. I've had some truly frightening and intimidating colleagues, bosses, and clients. In comparison, your little sneakiness and pettiness is nothing. Think your little scare tactics can get to me? Try sitting through parent conference after parent conference, patiently explaining to hostile parents that Little Susie isn't passing my class because she's a lazy lying sneak when I'm barely 10 years older than Little Susie herself? Hah! Then you learn where Little Susie learned her lazy lying sneakiness! Double hah. You've got another think coming!)
Posted by The Newest Worker at 10:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
No, Lady, that won't work. Oh, ok. Fine then. Just leave. We won't miss you!
Speaking of come and go, let me tell you about my First Customer today.
It was morning, about 8:30? Not really one of the "crazy at the door when it opens shoppers" but not a "lazy I'm finally out of bed today" shoppers either. Punctual, early, determined.
Merchandise: two graduation cards and two (cheap Christmas knickknack) clearance gifts. One of the clearance gifts didn't ring up at all--the UPC wasn't even in the mainframe!--and while I made my various pages and calls for help, the First Customer got more and more impatient. I tried to explain to her that getting another one wouldn't work ("They all have the same series of numbers called the UPC. This one isn't here, and neither will any other identical ones, ma'am."), but she would have none of it.
So when the Housewares/Seasonal Associate made it up to my register, the lady didn't listen to me say "Here he is! It'll be just one moment now!" (though I yelled it because she left). She left the register to go get another of her cheap Christmas knickknack clearance gifts.
Even though there were four people in line (two with very full carts), I waited for her to come back, but she didn't come for about a minute. So I voided her purchase and rang the next customer.
Lady returned just as I was swiping the Next Customer's credit card, but Lady was so irritated that I didn't wait for her that she huffed off. (I bet she thought I'd make her get back in line. No, I would have kindly asked the Next Next Customer if they wouldn't mind waiting while I rang up Lady's 4 items. Those types usually don't mind.) So Lady huffed off after saying (in a tone that clearly communicated that she was as important as the Queen Mum and couldn't believe that I, the lowly cashier, had the gall not to listen to her [stupid and pointless] plan to get another of the mystery items)...she said "You could have waited. That would have been the polite thing to do."
Oh, ok, polite.
I simply looked at her, and calmly said, "Ma'am, it would have been just a moment more if you had not left. And these customers were in line. You made them wait; I'm not the rude one."
Yesssss. It felt great to finally answer back to a customer.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 10:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Slow Motions
You know those time-lapse films they used to show on the Disney channel? The rose opens, or the trees grow leaves, or the little sprouts follow the sun. That's how I feel sometimes at the register: customers come and go, and I am there. The other cashiers are there. The floor associates are there. But the customers come and go.
I have no problem having a conversation with other cashiers while I'm ringing up customers. Is this rude? Sometimes. But they have no problem yapping with one another or (something I really, really hate!) chatting on their cellphones while I'm ringing them up. Because they come and they go.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 07:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 01, 2006
Capris or Pants?
I rang up a little person today. (You know, a midget, even though they don't like to be called that.) She had clothes for her kids, some size-S blouses, and a pair of pants I refolded. They were short.
I said, "Are these capris or pants?"
She paused. Said, "Well, capris on you, pants on me."
I laughed. So did she.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 07:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 25, 2006
Daddy's Little Thief
That's "Daddy's Little Thief" as opposed to "Daddy's Little Girl."
A young woman--maybe 18, 19 years old, dressed in the slightly lascivious fashion that teenagers tend to wear more than professionals do--comes to my register with a pair of too-tight pants and a halter top. (Yes, she had the 'natural support' for a halter top. She was already wearing a halter top. It's not the best look for her body type.)
I rang it up--40 dollars or so--and she gave me a brand-new, never-used credit card. It had a man's name on it, let's say "Howard Smith." It wasn't signed. I asked for ID, and she didn't provide it. I told her we could not run credit cards that didn't belong to the person making the purchase, and she said "Oh, it's my dad's card. He gave it to me. I have his PIN number."
[By the way, has anyone else noticed that "PIN number" is redundant? What you're saying is "Personal Identification Number number." Oh well.]
So I call my manager and ask what I should do.
Me: "Hi, Manager #2." (That's this manager's page-code, just so you know. He's "oh-two.") "I have a customer here who would like to use her father's credit card to purchase some clothes. The card's not signed, but she says she's got his PIN number."
02: hesitantly, "Well, I suppose it's ok. Run it as a debit and let her go." Sighs.
So I tell her to run it as a debit card ("Swipe it through the PIN pad and follow the instructions on the screen"), but the register declines the card:
The transaction cannot be completed with this card. The customer may call their financial institution if they have any questions. Press [continue] and continue with a different form of payment.
I read it aloud to the girl, which is what we're supposed to do, and she looks confused. I say, "What this means is that the card's been declined." She looks less confused. I tell her she can call the bank or credit card company from the phone at the back of the store in Customer Service, and that I'd be happy to take another form of purchase.
(By the way, I'd already bagged the clothes while I was on the phone with 02.)
So she puts her hand on the bag of clothes as if to take it and says "I'll just call from the back. Thanks!"
However, I also put my hand on the bag and say, "Ok. The line back there is pretty busy, and if it's a long line, they won't ring up your clothes there. You can take these with you" (and I unbag the clothes, tucking the bag back under my counter) "and pay for them after you're done calling."
She leaves.
LATER: I am at the back, at Customer Service, logging out and getting ready to go home, when I run into 02. I tell him that 1) her card was declined and 2) she tried to take the bagged clothes, but I wouldn't let her because she hadn't paid for them, and 02 was relieved. It also occurs to me that the credit card was absolutely brand new--there were no buffs or scuffs or scrape marks on it from swiping. Nothing. It was pristine. She probably stole it out of dad's mail (or someone else's mail, because she never did show me her ID!) and tried to pass it off. Whew. Keep a close eye on your mail, my friends. And pray you get sharp-eyed, smart cashiers like me.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Japanese Lady
This is a cashier's tale.
I always check credit/debit cards for a signature. If there is no signature, I ask for ID. So here comes an Asian woman, and I tell her the total, and she gives me the card. The back was signed in Japanese.
I wouldn't be able to tell if a Japanese signature was forged. So I asked for her ID. She handed me her Japanese passport.
I couldn't find her photo (because the photo page was covered with another slip she had tucked into her passport--it was in Japanese too, so I couldn't tell what purpose it was fulfilling in the woman's passport).
The name on her passport matched the name on her card. So I swiped it through. When I sat her signature slip down with my pen, she looked a little surprised (but I could be wrong) and picked up the pen. She then had to look for the signature line.
It made me wonder: How do Japanese people sign for their credit purchases in Japan? Is the signature line vertical? And what subtle body language cues signal annoyance among Japanese people?
Posted by The Newest Worker at 11:12 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 23, 2006
Saturday, 20 May
I have got to tell you all about last Saturday's shift. I don't have time right now, but remind me to blog about the Japanese lady and Daddy's Little Thief.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 08:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 27, 2006
When Your Cashier is an Acquaintance...
...there's uncomfortable Cognitive Dissonance.
I cashiered for a former adjunct professor and current colleague of The Dude's this Saturday, and it's interesting how she kept apologizing for making me help her though all her decisions while ringing her out. It's my job, and I'm used to it. But I think for her it was awkward to be giving me instructions (one might even say 'orders' but I wouldn't) as if I were just another cashier...but she kept remembering that I'm not Just Another Cashier, I'm Her Colleague's Wife. I felt kind of sorry for her, because it's customary to treat cashiers like they are part of the background--and when the cashier is an acquaintance what do you do? Which social rules do you follow?
We got through it ok (yes, it was ok) but it caught my attention enough to ponder it a bit.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 03:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 27, 2006
Lovin' and hatin'
So everyone at The Department Store was working hard Saturday because there was a Big Sale on Saturday which ended at 2--the registers were stacked up starting at about 12:30 till 2:15. All the available associates (the ones who straighten up the departments or organize the dock instead of working registers) were at the registers bagging while the cashiers were kickin'. It was harried. I loved it.
I love the registers, because I get to read people and try to make them happier while they spend, spend, spend (which is not my fault if they are over-spending...I just do my job!). However, other associates prefer to hang out in the departments, or on the dock, organizing and keeping interactions with (sometimes demanding and often spoiled) customers to a minimum.
I ran into one of these associates after my shift Saturday. She was sitting at a table in the break room with her elbows on the table and her chin/head in her hands, looking totally tired. Three other women were in the break room talking about their kids or something, ignoring this girl. I had a few moments, so I went over to the girl and asked her if she was ok...she started pouring out to me about how she hates the registers and yadda yadda. I sat and listened and then offered to rub her shoulders. She really was pretty tense but not as tense as others (such as Mom after a long day of typing the newsletter at the school she works at, or my friend Littlemissreformed, who is high-energy and often tightly wound)--and I could feel her relaxing as I massaged her.
There are several reasons I report this (and reflect on it myself):
- I recently blogged about profiling, and this girl fits the profile of the type who, when I was in high school, I profiled into the "I'm afraid to approach her with friendship because I'm a goody two shoes and she's not...and she can tell and I'll alienate her because she thinks we have NOTHING in common" category. But in spite of my predisposition to profile her and abandon her, I was able to take the edge off her day by just listening to her woes and offering some physical comfort.
(And a tangent from my point...when I lived in Hawaii and had no family nearby and no friends of consequence, I craved touch. I wanted hugs, massages, handholding, sitting close on the couch. My body just missed contact and I didn't really notice until someone, like the pastor's wife, would hug me and my body would go 'aaaaaaahhhh.' What I am saying is nonsexual, non-manipulative, kind and caring touch. We need it.)
- I have spent time praying about how to work at The Department Store while being a Christian. I don't want to be A.) a blowhard who goes around trumpeting the gospel while being insensitive, but I also don't want to be B.) a pansy, who is always nice (and goodness knows there's enough Niceness here in the South!) but never takes a stand with sinful behavior. What's the tightrope line? Where's the knife edge on which I walk? Jesus guides me...I take one step at a time, being kind and compassionate, quick to forgive, quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, refusing to gossip and showing sincere concern for the people I see every shift. Or I try. And I think this episode with the girl in the break room was part of that, offering her a cup of cool water when she needed it.
- Otter over at Grasping for the Wind wrote about 'loving-the-sinner-hating-the-sin,' and his thoughts sparked some of mine over here. So here's my little thought for the day regarding loving-the-sinner and whatnot.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 09:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2006
Various Thoughts and Questions
While working at The Department Store, I have plenty of time to think about things, to observe people, and to pray. I'm rarely bored, because most of the winter stock is getting clearanced, so I have lots of shoes to process (take all the stuffing and paper out of the shoes and the box, compare the shoes, and zip-tie them together and put them back in the box) and men's shirts to process (take all the pins out of the shirt, the cardboard behind the shirt and under the collar, put it on a hanger and hang on a z-rail). I do all this processing between customers to ring up. I can usually get it done. Sometimes I help the loading dock people with the intimates: unpack boxes, hang all the intimates, and sort by type. Put EMS tags on all the items over $15 (which are usually the tops).
Some of the things I've thought about during these times are the following:
- Greed, marketing, advertising, consumerism, covetousness--these are all related. Greed is sin, as we know, and it's disabling to be tied to the need to consume. We want to be constantly satisfied with a new toy, and when the shine wears off one toy we go buy another. Our culture revolves around this, but what I want to know is--did Adam and Eve ever have preference while in the unfallen state? Did they ever wake up one morning and want to have apple instead of guava for breakfast and go looking for an apple tree? What I mean is, is desire/preference/want sinful in and of itself, or is it just when it takes over and perverts into greed, covetousness, and materialism that it turns into sin?
- People don't like to be treated like they're dummies. One of the biggest chances for me and my fellow cashiers to do this is when immigrants come to our registers. When Spanish speaking people come, or when Russian speaking people come, they don't like it when a cashier starts speaking louder. (Hello? He's not deaf just because he only speaks a little English!) I really work hard not to do that. I notice when English skills are missing and accomodate by speaking individual words slowly and clearly and patiently. Emphasizing different syllables doesn't work--that still sounds weird, doesn't it? "Your-to-tal-is-for-ty-sev-en-thir-ty-six." So at least I try to be respectful.
- Profiling is such a wicked thing these days in America, especially racial profiling. But we do it all the time. A customer comes up and I can tell if they live on the mountain (in Tennessee OR in Georgia, at that!) or in Trenton. I can tell if they're Southerners or not. Americans or not. I treat people differently based on their gender, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, nationality, etc. I spend time praying about this, and I've decided it's not wicked at its core, but can easily become wicked in application. For example, I rang up a Russian woman the other day, and when I realized the chitchat was making her uncomfortable (because they don't chitchat with the help in Russia--and I write that without the negative connotation that comes with the phrase "the help"), I stopped the chitchat. I try to observe what makes certain types of people uncomfortable and what makes other types of people uncomfortable. Is it Despicable Racial (or Whatever Criterion) Profiling to be observant of patterns and to respect them?
- I worked Valentine's Day and I sold a lot of Valentine Gifts. It nearly ruined the day for me. There's so much marketing and consumerism associated with the day that it's sickening. There were the nice men and women, the sweet- and kind-hearted ones, who bought their partners greeting cards and gifts (clothes, candles, intimates of course, and I even sold a pair of running shoes as a Valentine Gift, which could be dangerous, like buying your enomorata a membership to a workout club and a lot of SlimFast), who bought their children gifts, their mothers and grandmothers gifts, their coworkers gifts--a lot of money came into my register just for these people to buy stuff to prove "I really do love you!" Sigh. About half of the men were sincere and cutely excited about pleasing their wives, but one man in particular sticks out. He bought his wife a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer that was on sale. It was a Big Ticket Item--about $350 with tax--and I complimented him on his Wonderful Gift, when he said with a very subtle snarly, disrespectful tone: "Oh, she goes through these phases and now she bakes cakes." Eye roll. "She wanted a mixer. Here it is, and it'll be dusty in a year." That really bothered me, and I figured out why: I'd rather not have a gift, not even a Big Ticket Item, if it came with that sort of attitude. Thankfully, I have the love from The Dude every day, not just on Valentines Day.
- I had a chance to talk to a colleague while we processed shirts. This woman talks like a country person, goes to church and behaves like a Christian (what I mean is she's full of the Fruit of the Spirit), and we got to talking about where we go to church. The more we talked, the more I realized I was talking, and the more I talked, the more I realized I was alienating her because I was coming across like an overeducated preppy jerk. I finally said that the people I spend my time with tend to talk a lot about faith, and that we all know that living and walking day by day is the hard part. Then I shut up.
- It's hard to break into a new workplace. I've done it plenty of times, and here are some tips: Set a long amount of time, like 6 months, to make yourself be quiet and observe the social flow of the place you're entering. Take note of how people talk to each other, who is the Alpha person, who is the nice boss, who can be trusted to give you trustworthy advice. Make it obvious that you are friendly, that you don't gossip (assume that everyone else is gossiping about everything you say, so share sparingly, or share stuff you don't mind getting passed around about you). Be extremely careful about complaining about anything, esp. about work-related stuff. Be discreet. Fly under the radar. Let other people come to you as friends. It'll happen, it will--but you have to wait for them to come to you.
- I love it when people listen to me talk and say, "You're not from around here, are you?" No, but I live here. People don't listen to speech and place them geographically in my hometown in Colorado--unless you're a Southerner. Or a New Yorker. But New Yorkers and East Coast People don't leave, not even to visit the Rocky Mountains. They're convinced there's no other place worth seeing if it means leaving their Perfect East Coast area.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 17, 2006
Flotsam and Jetsam
- The people at The Department Store are really nice to work with. I really like being recognized and greeted cheerfully. It doesn't feel asinine and high-school and cliqey to me, which is a nice change.
- A man came by the registers today (during a big rush...four registers going with about 6 people in each line). He had an armload of dress shirts and whatnot and asked me if I would keep an eye on them. "Can I set these here?" he asked, pointing to the counter of an unused register. I told him he could set them there, but I was in the middle of ringing another customer, explaining the benefits of The Department Store Credit Card, and wasn't really paying attention to him.
(And it occurs to me, as I write this, that while this guy was asking if he could set his stuff down on his counter, the Security Guards had just called me and asked about my previous customer..."The girl that you just sold the white shirt to? What happened to her?"...and I was creeped out about my phone ringing and the person questioning me about my customer knew all the details about the transaction but weren't where I could see them.)
So we get the lines cleared out, I answer every customer's questions ("Returns are at Customer Service, over in that area of the store") and I'm talking to another associate, when This Guy comes back and asks where his clothes were. I told him I didn't know, and he said, "But I asked you to keep an eye on them," in that tone of voice that communicates in the subtext You dummy. It's not like you're busy or anything, and why can't you do this one simple thing for me? The men's associate who had taken them, assuming they had been abandoned and needed to be replaced on the shelves, heard this interchange, came out from behind her trousers-shelf and explained where she had put them. He stalked away, and I was about to let him get to me when she said "Why can't people use the carts we provide for them?" It's nice to get a littly sympathy.
- One of our Managers had an accident last Sunday. He was in his driveway going to get his paper and slipped, cracked his head, got a concussion, and fractured his skull. He was in the neurologic ICU for a few days, the normal ward at the hospital for a few days, and now he's at home. He's going to be out for a few weeks, and The Department Store staff ask after him all the time. Pray for him, for his healing, for his family, and for his salvation (if necessary...I don't know if he's saved or not). Pray that this shock to the camaraderie at The Department Store would be a cause to ask questions about life and death and longevity and eternal security. And pray that if there's a chance, that I would be bold in my words and evangelize whomever needs it.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 07:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 10, 2006
One more...
I'm headed off to Waltopia to get groceries for tonight's dinner party/Olympics watching event, then back here to cook and clean, then off to The Department Store for my shift, but I thought I'd give you one more thing to read before I leave for the morning.
I have a lot of funny stories about being The Person Behind the Counter at The Department Store. I'll codify some of them and pay attention today to tell you them in a humorous manner so that you all may enjoy the interesting and insightful things I have to say about customers. (Customers are people too! They may think I'm the one behind bars, but seeing so many people traffic in and out of The Department Store sometimes makes me feel like an anthropologist or a zookeeper, watching the wildlife in their natural habitat. It's amazing what you can learn when you watch and know what to watch for.)
Seriously, all irony and sarcasm aside...my stories are interesting and insightful. People really let down their guard when it's just The Register Girl there. You can tell a lot about people based on what they buy (Hmmm...a nightgown set, tissue paper, and a gift bag, and next week is Valentine's day...), and they are willing to make chitchatty chitchat because it's just the Person Behind the Counter they're talking to.
Posted by The Newest Worker at 10:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack