Tales from the bookstore
Wow. Today was nothing but go go go. Last full Saturday before Christmas, whee. At least you don't get a chance to get bored. And surprisingly, I've had very few holiday jerks. I mean, there's been the occasionally slightly snotty or huffy person, but nobody's been truly obnoxious, or made me feel I had to call a manager to escape.
Most annoying lady today was the one who was looking for stuff on the computer, and every time she found something she wanted, she would stand there until she could catch my attention, then get me to go fetch it for her. I believe she did end up buying all the items she requested at least, but it was still very annoying, and chewed up more kiosk time than if she'd had the sense to just write down the info of the books she wanted. And she was borderline snappy and rude. I was just waiting for her to snap, but I guess I was subservient enough or something to keep her in check.
I had a stupid guy yesterday, who called and asked about something or other published by the government. We didn't have it. I suggested he try contacting the relevant government department. He asked if there were, you know, any government offices in the city that might be able to help him out. It's the capital of the country. There are government offices everyfuckingwhere. Yes, I am reasonably confident one of them will be able to help you find what you're looking for.
My new favourite amusement is the people who walk into my section from the front, and don't realize we have an upstairs. The thing you have to realize here, is that the way the store is laid out, if you come into my section from the front, you just walked past the escalators. Right by them. You may still be facing them, depending on where you got intercepted. One of these days I'm going to ask them what they thought those were for, if not to, you know, go upstairs. Although I am highly amused by the concept of having an escalator in the middle of the store that doesn't actually go anywhere, just so we could send people up it and watch them fall on their heads at the other end.
And I am constantly blown away but what incredible slobs women are in public bathrooms. It's disgusting. I'm not even going to get into the whole peeing on the seat business. My current issue is the paper towels. First, if you see a wall-mounted garbage can whose entrance is crossed off with several strips of tape, would it not occur to you that perhaps someone didn't want you using that one, for whatever reason? I can understand if there was no other obvious garbage can, since you have to put them somewhere, but the wide open regular can is right next to the taped-off wall-mounted one. Get a clue, ladies! And also, what the hell possesses them to leave their paper towels on the counter, in the sink, on the floor, or anywhere other than IN THE GARBAGE CAN? You actually have to walk past the garbage can to exit the bathroom, so it's not even like you have to take, ooh, six extra steps to toss out your towel. And they're not heavy; they're fucking paper! So why why why why WHY can they not manage to put them where they belong? It's just nasty.
And my new least favourite customer complaint: bitching that the *service* was poor because I couldn't find the item you were looking for. You didn't have an exact title, and I spent a long time searching on the computer in as many different ways as I could think of to try and track down this elusive item for you. I'm sorry, but I have other people to help, and eventually, I have to give up. Or, if you actually did have the exact information and I still couldn't find it, I'm afraid we simply don't carry it. I realize this is frustrating, but you know what? I did everything in my power to try and help you, so don't fucking complain that the service was crap. You want crappy service? Fine. No, sorry, sir, I've never heard of that book. Next!
In other news, how about that snow yesterday? My worst weather-related bus trip before yesterday was when it took about 20 minutes to get over the Mackenzie King bridge one afternoon a few years ago. Yesterday it took literally (by which I mean "literally," not "figuratively") 45 minutes to get from Bayview to Lebreton, which for those not familiar with the Ottawa transit system, is a very short distance normally traversed in slightly longer than it takes to blink. 45 minutes. And when we got to the point that was causing all the congestion, there wasn't anything there. So I have no clue why it was as slow there as it was. But it made me half an hour late for work, and that was annoying. Especially as it meant I didn't have time to grab a coffee. Lucky for me, one of my co-workers came by and bought me a little coffee, which was enough to tide me over until Fuzzy arrived with a big coffee. Side note: I love Jon, the co-worker in question. He's from out east, so he kind of reminds me a little of Gill, whom I miss terribly, so it's nice to have Jon around. Especially when he brings me coffee. Must make a note to return the favour sometime.
7 more sleeps!!
Most annoying lady today was the one who was looking for stuff on the computer, and every time she found something she wanted, she would stand there until she could catch my attention, then get me to go fetch it for her. I believe she did end up buying all the items she requested at least, but it was still very annoying, and chewed up more kiosk time than if she'd had the sense to just write down the info of the books she wanted. And she was borderline snappy and rude. I was just waiting for her to snap, but I guess I was subservient enough or something to keep her in check.
I had a stupid guy yesterday, who called and asked about something or other published by the government. We didn't have it. I suggested he try contacting the relevant government department. He asked if there were, you know, any government offices in the city that might be able to help him out. It's the capital of the country. There are government offices everyfuckingwhere. Yes, I am reasonably confident one of them will be able to help you find what you're looking for.
My new favourite amusement is the people who walk into my section from the front, and don't realize we have an upstairs. The thing you have to realize here, is that the way the store is laid out, if you come into my section from the front, you just walked past the escalators. Right by them. You may still be facing them, depending on where you got intercepted. One of these days I'm going to ask them what they thought those were for, if not to, you know, go upstairs. Although I am highly amused by the concept of having an escalator in the middle of the store that doesn't actually go anywhere, just so we could send people up it and watch them fall on their heads at the other end.
And I am constantly blown away but what incredible slobs women are in public bathrooms. It's disgusting. I'm not even going to get into the whole peeing on the seat business. My current issue is the paper towels. First, if you see a wall-mounted garbage can whose entrance is crossed off with several strips of tape, would it not occur to you that perhaps someone didn't want you using that one, for whatever reason? I can understand if there was no other obvious garbage can, since you have to put them somewhere, but the wide open regular can is right next to the taped-off wall-mounted one. Get a clue, ladies! And also, what the hell possesses them to leave their paper towels on the counter, in the sink, on the floor, or anywhere other than IN THE GARBAGE CAN? You actually have to walk past the garbage can to exit the bathroom, so it's not even like you have to take, ooh, six extra steps to toss out your towel. And they're not heavy; they're fucking paper! So why why why why WHY can they not manage to put them where they belong? It's just nasty.
And my new least favourite customer complaint: bitching that the *service* was poor because I couldn't find the item you were looking for. You didn't have an exact title, and I spent a long time searching on the computer in as many different ways as I could think of to try and track down this elusive item for you. I'm sorry, but I have other people to help, and eventually, I have to give up. Or, if you actually did have the exact information and I still couldn't find it, I'm afraid we simply don't carry it. I realize this is frustrating, but you know what? I did everything in my power to try and help you, so don't fucking complain that the service was crap. You want crappy service? Fine. No, sorry, sir, I've never heard of that book. Next!
In other news, how about that snow yesterday? My worst weather-related bus trip before yesterday was when it took about 20 minutes to get over the Mackenzie King bridge one afternoon a few years ago. Yesterday it took literally (by which I mean "literally," not "figuratively") 45 minutes to get from Bayview to Lebreton, which for those not familiar with the Ottawa transit system, is a very short distance normally traversed in slightly longer than it takes to blink. 45 minutes. And when we got to the point that was causing all the congestion, there wasn't anything there. So I have no clue why it was as slow there as it was. But it made me half an hour late for work, and that was annoying. Especially as it meant I didn't have time to grab a coffee. Lucky for me, one of my co-workers came by and bought me a little coffee, which was enough to tide me over until Fuzzy arrived with a big coffee. Side note: I love Jon, the co-worker in question. He's from out east, so he kind of reminds me a little of Gill, whom I miss terribly, so it's nice to have Jon around. Especially when he brings me coffee. Must make a note to return the favour sometime.
7 more sleeps!!