R.I.P. Mr. Miyagi
I have a half hour to kill between now and my lab.
****On Friday morning, I woke up at 3:00am to go to work at Circuit City. I got there and there were people lined up outside of the store, in tents, sleeping bags, piles of blankets, lawn chairs, and everything else. I didn't make eye contact with one of those people, either. Just walked right in to work.
The doors opened at 5 and the rush of customers was insane. I didn't take a head count or anything, but there had to be at least 40 bajillion people in that store. I couldn't even fucking walk around for the first 10 minutes, and then the lines started to form. People were asking me questions and then instead of listening to me answer them, they just walked away to go look for something else. And 4 or 5 people would do this in a row, it was crazy.
The most notable moment of the day came when this one guy asked me what the deal was with this particular bin of video games. I said that it was the $4.99 bin, because I had just asked Jim that same question -- and he's been working there a while so he should know where everything is and what it should cost, right? So that guy gets in line, and 45 minutes later he's up at the front desk causing a scene.
Dickhead customer: "I was told that these games were $4.99!! I want it at that fucking price!"
Nick the Cashier: "I'm sorry sir,"
Dickhead customer: "I wanna talk to your manager, NOW!"
Nick the Cashier: "I'm sorry but he's with some other people right now. You'll have to wait."
At this point, the people in line are getting restless, and actually start to get mad at the guy at the front of the line rather than any of the employees.
Agitated customer: "Come on, buddy, you're just wasting our time (series of random "Yeah"'s and "Hurry up"'s from the other line members, all in agreement with the original agitated customer).
Dickhead customer: "You all can shut up -- I've got a problem up here"
And then that almost started a fight between the feuding crowd. It was hilarious. The guy decided that he had seen enough so he took his kids and left, to the delight of the rest of the line. People actually started booing the guy as he looked over his shoulder, yelling obscenities in the process. I even saw a few people wad up their newspapers and throw them at the guy. Then they all cheered and applauded once he finally got out the door. I've never seen something that funny at work before. And to think that it all started with me. So then....
Wouldn't you believe that on Sunday night, that same guy came into Blockbuster. As soon as he walked in the building I allowed the triumphant return of the "I swear to god" face. And I made that face for like 5 minutes, because I just KNEW he was gonna start shit once he came up to the front counter.
Dickhead customer: "Hey, you're that guy that gave me all that trouble the other morning," (arrogant smirk)
Poor old me: "(Making some face pretending like I don't know what he's talking about)...."
Dickhead customer: "At Circuit City?"
Me: "(Fake realization) Ohhhhhhh yeeeaaaaaa, you're 'that' guy."
--At which point I immediately start talking out of my ass--
"Yea, man, that was totally the $4.99 bin. You see, we had to hire some seasonal help for the holidays (like I'm not seasonal) and this new guy put a whole bunch of games in the bin thinking they were the right ones, but they weren't. I apologize, because I was supposed to be watching over that whole section (like a manager or something) and I let that happen."
--Now the guy is nodding in approval like he's on my side--
Me: "The same thing happened to me at Best Buy last year. I was trying to buy a DVD player and it was like twice as expensive as what it was priced(never happened). I know EXACTLY how you felt."
Dickhead customer: "Yea and I don't see why everybody was so mad at me....I was just doing what I thought was right."
And then he rented his movies and left, said 'thanks for understanding' on his way out the door. Then I went in the back room and laughed hysterically.
The moral of this story is: Don't work two jobs at once because it will eventually get you murdered. The end.
****On Friday morning, I woke up at 3:00am to go to work at Circuit City. I got there and there were people lined up outside of the store, in tents, sleeping bags, piles of blankets, lawn chairs, and everything else. I didn't make eye contact with one of those people, either. Just walked right in to work.
The doors opened at 5 and the rush of customers was insane. I didn't take a head count or anything, but there had to be at least 40 bajillion people in that store. I couldn't even fucking walk around for the first 10 minutes, and then the lines started to form. People were asking me questions and then instead of listening to me answer them, they just walked away to go look for something else. And 4 or 5 people would do this in a row, it was crazy.
The most notable moment of the day came when this one guy asked me what the deal was with this particular bin of video games. I said that it was the $4.99 bin, because I had just asked Jim that same question -- and he's been working there a while so he should know where everything is and what it should cost, right? So that guy gets in line, and 45 minutes later he's up at the front desk causing a scene.
Dickhead customer: "I was told that these games were $4.99!! I want it at that fucking price!"
Nick the Cashier: "I'm sorry sir,"
Dickhead customer: "I wanna talk to your manager, NOW!"
Nick the Cashier: "I'm sorry but he's with some other people right now. You'll have to wait."
At this point, the people in line are getting restless, and actually start to get mad at the guy at the front of the line rather than any of the employees.
Agitated customer: "Come on, buddy, you're just wasting our time (series of random "Yeah"'s and "Hurry up"'s from the other line members, all in agreement with the original agitated customer).
Dickhead customer: "You all can shut up -- I've got a problem up here"
And then that almost started a fight between the feuding crowd. It was hilarious. The guy decided that he had seen enough so he took his kids and left, to the delight of the rest of the line. People actually started booing the guy as he looked over his shoulder, yelling obscenities in the process. I even saw a few people wad up their newspapers and throw them at the guy. Then they all cheered and applauded once he finally got out the door. I've never seen something that funny at work before. And to think that it all started with me. So then....
Wouldn't you believe that on Sunday night, that same guy came into Blockbuster. As soon as he walked in the building I allowed the triumphant return of the "I swear to god" face. And I made that face for like 5 minutes, because I just KNEW he was gonna start shit once he came up to the front counter.
Dickhead customer: "Hey, you're that guy that gave me all that trouble the other morning," (arrogant smirk)
Poor old me: "(Making some face pretending like I don't know what he's talking about)...."
Dickhead customer: "At Circuit City?"
Me: "(Fake realization) Ohhhhhhh yeeeaaaaaa, you're 'that' guy."
--At which point I immediately start talking out of my ass--
"Yea, man, that was totally the $4.99 bin. You see, we had to hire some seasonal help for the holidays (like I'm not seasonal) and this new guy put a whole bunch of games in the bin thinking they were the right ones, but they weren't. I apologize, because I was supposed to be watching over that whole section (like a manager or something) and I let that happen."
--Now the guy is nodding in approval like he's on my side--
Me: "The same thing happened to me at Best Buy last year. I was trying to buy a DVD player and it was like twice as expensive as what it was priced(never happened). I know EXACTLY how you felt."
Dickhead customer: "Yea and I don't see why everybody was so mad at me....I was just doing what I thought was right."
And then he rented his movies and left, said 'thanks for understanding' on his way out the door. Then I went in the back room and laughed hysterically.
The moral of this story is: Don't work two jobs at once because it will eventually get you murdered. The end.