(no subject)
I guess I can sum up the past year (which it has actually been OVER a year since my last LJ post and I promise to all 8 of you people who actually take time to read my silly little thoughs) like this.
The pawn shop that I've been managing for the past two years is closing down in a couple of weeks and I'm not really all that sorry to see it go. The biggest thing is that I'm gonna miss all the neat stuff for dirt cheap. The people I work for are great enough, it's just the fact that we didn't see the quality merchandise that larger stores get. I have to worry about silly things like "cash flow" and bide my time to get the stuff that really makes the cash while places like "Superpawn" and "USA Pawn", which has branches all across the country (there are four in Tucson alone. It all boils down to the larger corporations once again snuffing the little guy 'cause the little guy can't compete.
There are three things that I could never settle with in dealing with the shop. 1) Crackheads and Tweekers. I really kinda have to pity them is a strange way, however, I don't pity them fully due to the fact that anyone can make a choice in their life. What matters more though is the strength to see the choice to its fullest conclusion. I've been witness to how those two drugs have reduced the intellect of someone from a decent human being to nothing more than a rabid animal, willing to do anything just to have another few hours of euphoria. Also, seeing how people physically degenerate in such a short period of time is simply amazing. Just to show you how fucked up these people can be, I would have a herd (it seems like but not always, tweekers travel in threes. One driving, one with the money and one with the really bad habit.) of tweekers come into the shop with a single 10k earring and some plated jewelry that isn't worth spit, and they would expect me to take it like it was a some priceless work of art. That brings me to my second point.
2) Telling people that there precious posessions aren't worth crap. It really sucks when someone comes into your shop with something they may hold with such high regard as to be equalivent to idol worship. This person is most likely in a real financial pickle for one reason or another and they've pinned all their hopes on this most holy of relic to bail them out of their predicament. To them, they should receive more than it's "retail" value because it has something much more important to them..."senimental" value. That however is MUCH harder to base sales upon. So here I come, the heartless, cruel bastard who won't buy their precious posession because not only am I not interested in the item, be it a antique someting-or-other or plated jewelry (which is my personal fave) but the item isn't really even a genuine article. Case in point. I had an elderly couple come into the shop, saying that they had an uncut sheet of pre-1930's baseball cards which had Babe Ruth himself as one of the cards. Now I'm no expert, but a uncut sheet with the Babe has 1) Never been found and 2) Would be probably worth oh, several MILLION dollars. since finding uncut sheets from that long ago is near impossible. So when they told me this, dollar signs really lit up my eyes something fierce. I told them that if they wanted me to take a look, I would be more than willing. After about an hour, they came back with this cardboard tube. As soon as I saw the tube, I knew it wasn't gonna be the real deal. It took me about three minutes to find that the cards weren't lithographed like they would have done it in the 1930s, but the whole sheet was done on a printer from the late 70's and to make matters worse, I found on the bottom right hand side, a 1979 Reproductions copyright date. The look on their faces when the left the shop looked as if they could drive into their garage and leave the engine running all night. The one thing they didn't do is drop the pity bomb on me.
3) Using pity to undermine me. Shit's tough and it's just bound to get tougher. If I here one more person utter the words "Aw come on man, can you just help me out this once?" I will personally rip out their lungs and eat them in front of them before they fucking die! Therein lies the tweeker yet again. About the only people that use that phrase are drug addicts and every time since I've managed this shop, when someone uses that line, I will not buy or pawn their stuff. How many people have they used that phrase upon...how many times people helped them just once and the next thing is the good samiritan is robbed blind. I'm not a big fan of the Bible but there is always one passage that I truely love and admire. "God helps those who help themselves."
Anyway, more to come.
KEN
The pawn shop that I've been managing for the past two years is closing down in a couple of weeks and I'm not really all that sorry to see it go. The biggest thing is that I'm gonna miss all the neat stuff for dirt cheap. The people I work for are great enough, it's just the fact that we didn't see the quality merchandise that larger stores get. I have to worry about silly things like "cash flow" and bide my time to get the stuff that really makes the cash while places like "Superpawn" and "USA Pawn", which has branches all across the country (there are four in Tucson alone. It all boils down to the larger corporations once again snuffing the little guy 'cause the little guy can't compete.
There are three things that I could never settle with in dealing with the shop. 1) Crackheads and Tweekers. I really kinda have to pity them is a strange way, however, I don't pity them fully due to the fact that anyone can make a choice in their life. What matters more though is the strength to see the choice to its fullest conclusion. I've been witness to how those two drugs have reduced the intellect of someone from a decent human being to nothing more than a rabid animal, willing to do anything just to have another few hours of euphoria. Also, seeing how people physically degenerate in such a short period of time is simply amazing. Just to show you how fucked up these people can be, I would have a herd (it seems like but not always, tweekers travel in threes. One driving, one with the money and one with the really bad habit.) of tweekers come into the shop with a single 10k earring and some plated jewelry that isn't worth spit, and they would expect me to take it like it was a some priceless work of art. That brings me to my second point.
2) Telling people that there precious posessions aren't worth crap. It really sucks when someone comes into your shop with something they may hold with such high regard as to be equalivent to idol worship. This person is most likely in a real financial pickle for one reason or another and they've pinned all their hopes on this most holy of relic to bail them out of their predicament. To them, they should receive more than it's "retail" value because it has something much more important to them..."senimental" value. That however is MUCH harder to base sales upon. So here I come, the heartless, cruel bastard who won't buy their precious posession because not only am I not interested in the item, be it a antique someting-or-other or plated jewelry (which is my personal fave) but the item isn't really even a genuine article. Case in point. I had an elderly couple come into the shop, saying that they had an uncut sheet of pre-1930's baseball cards which had Babe Ruth himself as one of the cards. Now I'm no expert, but a uncut sheet with the Babe has 1) Never been found and 2) Would be probably worth oh, several MILLION dollars. since finding uncut sheets from that long ago is near impossible. So when they told me this, dollar signs really lit up my eyes something fierce. I told them that if they wanted me to take a look, I would be more than willing. After about an hour, they came back with this cardboard tube. As soon as I saw the tube, I knew it wasn't gonna be the real deal. It took me about three minutes to find that the cards weren't lithographed like they would have done it in the 1930s, but the whole sheet was done on a printer from the late 70's and to make matters worse, I found on the bottom right hand side, a 1979 Reproductions copyright date. The look on their faces when the left the shop looked as if they could drive into their garage and leave the engine running all night. The one thing they didn't do is drop the pity bomb on me.
3) Using pity to undermine me. Shit's tough and it's just bound to get tougher. If I here one more person utter the words "Aw come on man, can you just help me out this once?" I will personally rip out their lungs and eat them in front of them before they fucking die! Therein lies the tweeker yet again. About the only people that use that phrase are drug addicts and every time since I've managed this shop, when someone uses that line, I will not buy or pawn their stuff. How many people have they used that phrase upon...how many times people helped them just once and the next thing is the good samiritan is robbed blind. I'm not a big fan of the Bible but there is always one passage that I truely love and admire. "God helps those who help themselves."
Anyway, more to come.
KEN