GameStizzle Adventures
I FINALLY got shifts at work and as a result worked Friday through Monday. The first shift was all right - I was covering for Ryan who was sick and worked with Paul, whom I enjoy working with. And then saturday I worked with Paul and with the new manager (but we were busy so it was cool) and I think I closed with Paul. Which was... interesting. Sunday I had a lot of fun working with Ryan, Paul and Ian, who are kind of the "old guard." We have a lot of fun at work together. Possibly even too much fun. And then MONDAY... Monday was not fun. I worked with paul and the new manager, whom I will refer to as Idiot Manager R. I wasn't there for too long when she called me into the back room, sat me down and proceeded to have an hour long "pep talk" with me.
I've never done more smiling, nodding and going "okay" in my life. Honestly. I thought my eyes were going to glaze over. And it wasn't that she didn't have any legit points (she had a few), it was the way in which she delivered them that drove me crazy. She spoke like I was five. And basically all but told me "don't go to my supervisors if you have a problem with me" and said that she was embarrassed to bring her family into the store, that we were in the bottom ranks of the company and that her presence here had massively improved pretty much everything. And also that she expects perfect customer service from us, but doesn't expect us to be perfect.
Right. So. That was fun.
And then after she finally let me go and left, it was just me and Paul working. And I did feel like I needed to start being more helpful for customers. It's easy to assume that everyone knows everything when in fact I guess they really don't. So I end up talking to this guy and having a REALLY good talk with him. I've gotten him to say that he's going to come in and trade stuff in and buy a subscription and make a reserve (all stuff that she really emphasized that we needed to get people to do) and it was going really well. I walk away from the guy to give him some space and went behind the counter, where Paul was helping some lady with a little girl. The lady gives me this REALLY strange look and practically bolts off. And when I ask Paul what the deal was...
Paul: She was complaining about you "flirting" with that guy.
Me: WHAT THE HELL. I was doing my JOB. The job that my boss had just yanked me into the back and spent and hour telling me to do!
Paul: Yeah I know. She came up here like "Does that girl work here?" And I said "Yes..." And she said "Well is she on duty? Because she's FLIRTING with that guy instead of being on the register helping this long line.
NB: The "long line" consisted of her. Just her. And due to Idiot Manager R's new policies, we are NOT ALLOWED to be behind the counter unless we are actively ringing people up. So if we're talking to a customer or doing something, we can't immediately see that you're at the register waiting for us to help you.
At this point I'm pretty pissed because I'm feeling like I can't win. So Paul continues...
Paul: I told her "Ma'am, I'm pretty sure she wasn't flirting." And the lady replied with "Oh yes she was." And I said "Ma'am... She's a LESBIAN. I'm PRETTY SURE she wasn't flirting."
Me: *DIES*
Oh my God, I cannot even tell you how hard I laughed. It was just the most perfect thing to hear and it made me feel SO much better about the whole thing. That and the really friendly two South African ladies I helped really made my day better.
At least for a while. Until I got trapped listening to a guy who was MINIMUM in his mid-thirties tell me about his D&D character and how awesome he was and how he basically took over the game and god-moded the whole time and how the other players and DM hated him for some reason or another. (Gee, I wonder why.)
I'd like to add as a caveat that I have no problem with D&D and other games of its ilk. In fact, I'd love to learn how to play. I have no problem with nerds of any age either. I do have a problem with some guy basically bragging to me about how he "broke" a game and made his character teh_awezomez at the expense of the other players' experiences. The dude came off as a jerk and I was bored to death. I kept trying to catch Paul's eye to get him to "save" me but he was too busy laughing. Jerkface.
I was eventually saved (after fifteen/twenty minutes) by some woman and two boys coming in AT TEN MINUTES TO CLOSE with a Wii and a BOX of trades. Oh my god, people. This is like coming into a restaurant five minutes before close and wanting a table. It's just rude. Trades are time-intensive. A last-minute purchase is one thing if it's not complicated, but arg. However, at the time I was grateful because it got D&D Asshole to leave me alone. But by that point I was so flustered by everything that I fucked up their trade and just DIDN'T COUNT two of their games. And I didn't even notice this until I was labeling them and realized I didn't have enough stickers. Le sigh. I felt like a total airhead. And an asshole. Just generally not good. Paul made me feel a little better by telling me that he'd done the same thing, but oh well.
Suffice to say, I'm really glad that I don't have to work again until next week.
I've never done more smiling, nodding and going "okay" in my life. Honestly. I thought my eyes were going to glaze over. And it wasn't that she didn't have any legit points (she had a few), it was the way in which she delivered them that drove me crazy. She spoke like I was five. And basically all but told me "don't go to my supervisors if you have a problem with me" and said that she was embarrassed to bring her family into the store, that we were in the bottom ranks of the company and that her presence here had massively improved pretty much everything. And also that she expects perfect customer service from us, but doesn't expect us to be perfect.
Right. So. That was fun.
And then after she finally let me go and left, it was just me and Paul working. And I did feel like I needed to start being more helpful for customers. It's easy to assume that everyone knows everything when in fact I guess they really don't. So I end up talking to this guy and having a REALLY good talk with him. I've gotten him to say that he's going to come in and trade stuff in and buy a subscription and make a reserve (all stuff that she really emphasized that we needed to get people to do) and it was going really well. I walk away from the guy to give him some space and went behind the counter, where Paul was helping some lady with a little girl. The lady gives me this REALLY strange look and practically bolts off. And when I ask Paul what the deal was...
Paul: She was complaining about you "flirting" with that guy.
Me: WHAT THE HELL. I was doing my JOB. The job that my boss had just yanked me into the back and spent and hour telling me to do!
Paul: Yeah I know. She came up here like "Does that girl work here?" And I said "Yes..." And she said "Well is she on duty? Because she's FLIRTING with that guy instead of being on the register helping this long line.
NB: The "long line" consisted of her. Just her. And due to Idiot Manager R's new policies, we are NOT ALLOWED to be behind the counter unless we are actively ringing people up. So if we're talking to a customer or doing something, we can't immediately see that you're at the register waiting for us to help you.
At this point I'm pretty pissed because I'm feeling like I can't win. So Paul continues...
Paul: I told her "Ma'am, I'm pretty sure she wasn't flirting." And the lady replied with "Oh yes she was." And I said "Ma'am... She's a LESBIAN. I'm PRETTY SURE she wasn't flirting."
Me: *DIES*
Oh my God, I cannot even tell you how hard I laughed. It was just the most perfect thing to hear and it made me feel SO much better about the whole thing. That and the really friendly two South African ladies I helped really made my day better.
At least for a while. Until I got trapped listening to a guy who was MINIMUM in his mid-thirties tell me about his D&D character and how awesome he was and how he basically took over the game and god-moded the whole time and how the other players and DM hated him for some reason or another. (Gee, I wonder why.)
I'd like to add as a caveat that I have no problem with D&D and other games of its ilk. In fact, I'd love to learn how to play. I have no problem with nerds of any age either. I do have a problem with some guy basically bragging to me about how he "broke" a game and made his character teh_awezomez at the expense of the other players' experiences. The dude came off as a jerk and I was bored to death. I kept trying to catch Paul's eye to get him to "save" me but he was too busy laughing. Jerkface.
I was eventually saved (after fifteen/twenty minutes) by some woman and two boys coming in AT TEN MINUTES TO CLOSE with a Wii and a BOX of trades. Oh my god, people. This is like coming into a restaurant five minutes before close and wanting a table. It's just rude. Trades are time-intensive. A last-minute purchase is one thing if it's not complicated, but arg. However, at the time I was grateful because it got D&D Asshole to leave me alone. But by that point I was so flustered by everything that I fucked up their trade and just DIDN'T COUNT two of their games. And I didn't even notice this until I was labeling them and realized I didn't have enough stickers. Le sigh. I felt like a total airhead. And an asshole. Just generally not good. Paul made me feel a little better by telling me that he'd done the same thing, but oh well.
Suffice to say, I'm really glad that I don't have to work again until next week.