Scenes from retail purgatory…

[emperor_fool]

When I took the seasonal retail job, I expected lots of good fiction-fodder. There have, however, been only a few standout moments. Still, if I take the top half dozen incidents from the past two months and combine them into a single day in a comic story about a retail worker, I might get some mileage out of them. I’m recording them here in some

Comments

[emperor_fool]

Yeah. As rotten as some of those kids are, it's the parents who really piss me off. The kids are just kids, doing what they've learned is acceptable. But the parents don't seem to give a damn what their kids do--to the point that the kids are a danger to themselves and others. I wasn't a little angel, but you can bet your bippy that my mother taught us from a very early age what we were (and weren't) supposed to do in public. And when we misbehaved she was on us in a flash to cut it out.

[emperor_fool]

*snerk*

[zz_neena]

People act badly in public and to the poor souls who serve them BECAUSE THEY CAN!!!!!!!
They let their children run wild BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO REAL PARENTING SKILLS AND ARE AT THE CHILDREN'S MERCY THEMSELVES!!!

[emperor_fool]

I'm sure you're right. If I weren't so angry with these non-parenting parents I would feel sorry for them. They actually have to live day in and day out with the little monsters.

[emperor_fool]

Actually, most of the kids who come in are fine; some are downright sweet. But the monsters are memorable. And, yeah, I feel bad for the kids too--how are they going to learn the social skills they'll need in life?

[islandmomma]

You have my utmost sympathy! Your stories so remind me of working in customer service that I have chills up my spine! We even had the brats because the parents were too stupid to understand the internet. I HATE this recession.

[emperor_fool]

On the bright side, the job will be over in a couple of weeks, and I'll be able to laugh about it.

[emperor_fool]

Amazing. It seems such a no brainer: You set behavior limits--for a child or a dog--and you enforce those limits. The child or dog then learns to behave (more or less, most of the time...nobody's perfect). Is it really such a difficult concept?