(no subject)
Sunday night at 1 am seems to be the time when all channels in Chicago are showing some sort of infomercial. A shame, beacuse 12-1am there was a cool old Perry Mason mystery on the "it's not reruns if all the shows are at least 30 years old" channel. I've been doing some sleuthing of my own, and come up with a solution to a tough puzzle that's been bugging me for about a week now. Figuring out who lived in the middle of nowhere in Norway in 1921 with only a photo and a set of Longitude and Latitude coordinates was way too much fun. The puzzle about alcoholic drinks looks like more of a headache than fun.
Oh, and if you were ever curious, Target employees totally do share stupid customer stories in the break room. Until Target releases certain guidelines for when you can just tell someone they're being a moron (the store policy of being friendly is currently ironclad) it's the only way to stay sane. I say this from the fact that people often walk up to photo desk and treat me like I'm customer service-- asking for a sales paper, directions, giving me their complaints, etc. I walk up everytime, because there's no way to tell the difference between an actual photo customer and someone who feels there's no reason to wait in line if I'm right there. I've managed to get my instant "that's customer service, right there" [point directly to right, across the shallow wall that divides the two sections] down to such an automatic reaction that it always comes out zombie-friendly; in the beginning, especially at the end of a long day, there was a high risk of sounding annoyed if not outright disdainful. Today, a nice-looking old-lady came up to the desk to complain that we should have a sign marking the store entrance. Now, there's only one place you enter the store, and it's all sliding glass doors-- the type you expect at such a store, highly visible, and the only doors anywhere in the parking lot. So I had trouble responding sincerely. She insisted, and said that someone else had the same problem, and that I should tell my manager. So I tried explaining that this was Photo lab, and that the manager of Photo lab has very little to do with entrance signs. I suggested she tell Guest Services and fill out a comment card, but she continued to insist that I do something or talk to someone. I feel it speaks well of my character that I did not say any of the following things:
Oh, and if you were ever curious, Target employees totally do share stupid customer stories in the break room. Until Target releases certain guidelines for when you can just tell someone they're being a moron (the store policy of being friendly is currently ironclad) it's the only way to stay sane. I say this from the fact that people often walk up to photo desk and treat me like I'm customer service-- asking for a sales paper, directions, giving me their complaints, etc. I walk up everytime, because there's no way to tell the difference between an actual photo customer and someone who feels there's no reason to wait in line if I'm right there. I've managed to get my instant "that's customer service, right there" [point directly to right, across the shallow wall that divides the two sections] down to such an automatic reaction that it always comes out zombie-friendly; in the beginning, especially at the end of a long day, there was a high risk of sounding annoyed if not outright disdainful. Today, a nice-looking old-lady came up to the desk to complain that we should have a sign marking the store entrance. Now, there's only one place you enter the store, and it's all sliding glass doors-- the type you expect at such a store, highly visible, and the only doors anywhere in the parking lot. So I had trouble responding sincerely. She insisted, and said that someone else had the same problem, and that I should tell my manager. So I tried explaining that this was Photo lab, and that the manager of Photo lab has very little to do with entrance signs. I suggested she tell Guest Services and fill out a comment card, but she continued to insist that I do something or talk to someone. I feel it speaks well of my character that I did not say any of the following things:
- Maybe the management felt that putting an 'entrance' sign over the only doors we have was redundant.
- Congratulations! You passed our test, and found the way into the store. You are now worthy to shop here. Provided you didn't cheat by following all the people who were walking into the store, of course.
- Ma'am, there is a sign that says this is "Photo lab", and a sign that says that over there is "Customer Services". If that didn't help you, I don't know why an "entrance" sign is going to make such a difference.
- This is Photo lab ma'am... I'm not sure exactly what you'd like me to do. Should I take a picture of the entrance, so you can recognize it in the future?
- I'm sorry ma'am, I can't help you stop feeling stupid about having trouble finding an entrance that thousands of people find each and every day.