Somehow we get around it...
If you've sent me a message as of the late and I didn't reply, it's because I've been dicking around with Trillian... I've said fuck it and shit... Too much of a pain in my ass...
Seeing my prior work asshole lists were so popular, here's today's installment of musings about work:
i see so many people from my senior class who were "popular" and shit who would never have batted an eye in my direction. When you come back "home" after 2 years and see anyone, they're happy to see you. Not playing happy, but they all enjoy seeing you and say so. On that note, if anyone knew Troy Bowen and Kelly Hoffsetter, they're engaged now.
I have 7 more items to rant on this evening that are mostly cashier related...
1) Small talk items: Yes, I'm going to talk to you, the customer, and smile. It's part of my job, it's part of what the company has in it's policies, believe it or not. We believe that in your time here at Walgreens, you're granting us with your presence and your monies, so we're going to "treat you like family." Yes, it's a customer service rule. But here, let me suggest somethings:
a) Don't ever tell someone that you feel sorry that they're working on Insert Holiday Name Here. Why? You don't know their beliefs. I have one coworker that their "Christmas" is mostly held on Christmas Eve, so Christmas day is really nothing. I'm Jewish, so Christmas day is just another day for me. And quite often, people will work because they don't have a family to go home to. Or maybe they're getting off at a certain time. And let us go a step beyond this...
b) Don't ever tell a Jew that they "can celebrate Christmas too." Ummm... How am I supposed to celebrate it? I'll celebrate the good will and spirit of the holidays every year with my attitude, why do I need to accentuate it for a commercialized holiday that represents the birth of a "savior" that my people don't recognize... Anyoen else see a problem with that? This brings me to the final point of...
c) Why you shouldn't be so ethnocentric and you should wish people "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Yes, it's Christmas Eve. Most of you are dressed in your evening best for Mass or the like, well guess what: Although the majority of the United States is Christian, not everyone is Christian. There's a reason that I wish everyone a "Happy Holidays." Maybe you, who is being wished a "Happy Holidays" should consider that and not reply with a "Merry Christmas."
2) Store Hours: We are a 24-hour store, and we are open 365 days a year. I know that there are a ton of stores that are 24-hour stores that are not open everyday of the year, but if I answer the phone "Happy Holidays! Thank you for calling your neighborhood 24 hour Walgreens, this is Adam, how may I help you?" you shouldn't be asking me the question "What time do you close tonight?" Everyone in the store who hears me go through that who's by my register sees me roll my eyes and smile at your stupidity. And although it might be amusing once or twice, after the 20th time that I did it tonight, well, yeah...
3) Greeting Cards: People, let's use some common sense. Yes, there are envelopes behind the cards. Don't put your card into the envelope (not seal, just tuck it inside) until you have bought it. Twice I had people have their cards inside the envelopes. This meant that I had to take the card out then ring it. You're wasting your time doing this. Also, I kniow that cards are expensive. I had a guy spend $60 on like 12 cards for family. If you want to send out Christmas cards to people, don't buy them individually: buy a box. Buy bigger ones for the special people, or just make them all on you computer.
4) Register "Behavior": Before I get to my big final point, here's a common sense one. We are a place of business, this is rule number one. This in mind, when you come to the register, act professionally. Have your money ready (more on this in the big final point) or readily known where it is. If you forget something, send a child/spouse/person you're with to go get it, don't leave your stuff for me to ring it up and run through the store. And don't leave your stuff on the counter if you're going to go somewhere else. I have enough promotional crap on my counter that your shit makes it worse. I had a guy ask me if he could leave a 2 liter bottle on the counter while he went out to get money from the car, and I told him that I didn't have the space for it, he found another spot, and he never came back. If you're in a group of people, know who's paying for what and how much you're spending before you get to the register and if you have enough. In this vein, don't bicker with your friends who are there at the last minute about who's gonna pay for it. If you see neighbors/friends/people to talk to, do so AFTER you're done and move out of the way. And if you're on a cell phone, get off until you're out the door. I'm guilty of that last one tonight, but I was quiet on my cell and talked to the employee behind the register instead of Sarah, who I was on the phone with.
Finally... The biggest one of all...
5) Your Money: When you have your money, please, consider us. Don't wad it up. You can simply straighten your bills out quickly by an opposite crease, which is what we'll do anyways. If you have them all rolled up or folded up, unfold them in the same fashion with the brief and quick longwise crease like you see us do. Don't place change on the counter, put it into our hands. If you have a lot of change, let us know ahead of time and don't just give us half a dollar in nickels or 18 cents in pennies. Ask us if it's okay. Ask us if we can break big bills or give you cash back before you're getting ready to pay. If you're paying by check, ask us if we can print them, seeing a lot of places can now.
I think that's all for the rants for today...
But there's a little bit of a sadder, scarier thought I'd like to add to here...
Every year we hear the story of people getting into a car with a stranger and never coming back. I almost met someone who was part of this story tonight, and it was one of my managers. Miss Ashworth was walking between the liquor store and main store (it's a brief walk between both of the automatic doors) and a man in a minivan asked her if she could help him. He motioned for her to move closer to the minivan, and she moved a little closer. He then got out and moved towards the hood to open it, and told her to get into the van and push the pedal because he was having problems with it. She told him that she'd go get another manager (Mr. Roth) to help him. The second she turned around and walked to get Mr. Roth, the man jumped back into his van and sped off. So she's safe, she was shaken up, the police have been notified, and Mr. D and Mr. Roth, as well as a good number of the male co-workers at the store, wish we could kick the shit out of this asshole.
But please... It's the holidays. We all want to do something nice for someone else, but let's all be safe and happy at the same time... Miss Ashworth is lucky that she was intelligent about that. There's no telling what would have happened had she gotten in the van...
I wish all of my friends the best, and the common sense to do great deeds but watch out for the vans of everyday...
God Bless...
Seeing my prior work asshole lists were so popular, here's today's installment of musings about work:
i see so many people from my senior class who were "popular" and shit who would never have batted an eye in my direction. When you come back "home" after 2 years and see anyone, they're happy to see you. Not playing happy, but they all enjoy seeing you and say so. On that note, if anyone knew Troy Bowen and Kelly Hoffsetter, they're engaged now.
I have 7 more items to rant on this evening that are mostly cashier related...
1) Small talk items: Yes, I'm going to talk to you, the customer, and smile. It's part of my job, it's part of what the company has in it's policies, believe it or not. We believe that in your time here at Walgreens, you're granting us with your presence and your monies, so we're going to "treat you like family." Yes, it's a customer service rule. But here, let me suggest somethings:
a) Don't ever tell someone that you feel sorry that they're working on Insert Holiday Name Here. Why? You don't know their beliefs. I have one coworker that their "Christmas" is mostly held on Christmas Eve, so Christmas day is really nothing. I'm Jewish, so Christmas day is just another day for me. And quite often, people will work because they don't have a family to go home to. Or maybe they're getting off at a certain time. And let us go a step beyond this...
b) Don't ever tell a Jew that they "can celebrate Christmas too." Ummm... How am I supposed to celebrate it? I'll celebrate the good will and spirit of the holidays every year with my attitude, why do I need to accentuate it for a commercialized holiday that represents the birth of a "savior" that my people don't recognize... Anyoen else see a problem with that? This brings me to the final point of...
c) Why you shouldn't be so ethnocentric and you should wish people "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Yes, it's Christmas Eve. Most of you are dressed in your evening best for Mass or the like, well guess what: Although the majority of the United States is Christian, not everyone is Christian. There's a reason that I wish everyone a "Happy Holidays." Maybe you, who is being wished a "Happy Holidays" should consider that and not reply with a "Merry Christmas."
2) Store Hours: We are a 24-hour store, and we are open 365 days a year. I know that there are a ton of stores that are 24-hour stores that are not open everyday of the year, but if I answer the phone "Happy Holidays! Thank you for calling your neighborhood 24 hour Walgreens, this is Adam, how may I help you?" you shouldn't be asking me the question "What time do you close tonight?" Everyone in the store who hears me go through that who's by my register sees me roll my eyes and smile at your stupidity. And although it might be amusing once or twice, after the 20th time that I did it tonight, well, yeah...
3) Greeting Cards: People, let's use some common sense. Yes, there are envelopes behind the cards. Don't put your card into the envelope (not seal, just tuck it inside) until you have bought it. Twice I had people have their cards inside the envelopes. This meant that I had to take the card out then ring it. You're wasting your time doing this. Also, I kniow that cards are expensive. I had a guy spend $60 on like 12 cards for family. If you want to send out Christmas cards to people, don't buy them individually: buy a box. Buy bigger ones for the special people, or just make them all on you computer.
4) Register "Behavior": Before I get to my big final point, here's a common sense one. We are a place of business, this is rule number one. This in mind, when you come to the register, act professionally. Have your money ready (more on this in the big final point) or readily known where it is. If you forget something, send a child/spouse/person you're with to go get it, don't leave your stuff for me to ring it up and run through the store. And don't leave your stuff on the counter if you're going to go somewhere else. I have enough promotional crap on my counter that your shit makes it worse. I had a guy ask me if he could leave a 2 liter bottle on the counter while he went out to get money from the car, and I told him that I didn't have the space for it, he found another spot, and he never came back. If you're in a group of people, know who's paying for what and how much you're spending before you get to the register and if you have enough. In this vein, don't bicker with your friends who are there at the last minute about who's gonna pay for it. If you see neighbors/friends/people to talk to, do so AFTER you're done and move out of the way. And if you're on a cell phone, get off until you're out the door. I'm guilty of that last one tonight, but I was quiet on my cell and talked to the employee behind the register instead of Sarah, who I was on the phone with.
Finally... The biggest one of all...
5) Your Money: When you have your money, please, consider us. Don't wad it up. You can simply straighten your bills out quickly by an opposite crease, which is what we'll do anyways. If you have them all rolled up or folded up, unfold them in the same fashion with the brief and quick longwise crease like you see us do. Don't place change on the counter, put it into our hands. If you have a lot of change, let us know ahead of time and don't just give us half a dollar in nickels or 18 cents in pennies. Ask us if it's okay. Ask us if we can break big bills or give you cash back before you're getting ready to pay. If you're paying by check, ask us if we can print them, seeing a lot of places can now.
I think that's all for the rants for today...
But there's a little bit of a sadder, scarier thought I'd like to add to here...
Every year we hear the story of people getting into a car with a stranger and never coming back. I almost met someone who was part of this story tonight, and it was one of my managers. Miss Ashworth was walking between the liquor store and main store (it's a brief walk between both of the automatic doors) and a man in a minivan asked her if she could help him. He motioned for her to move closer to the minivan, and she moved a little closer. He then got out and moved towards the hood to open it, and told her to get into the van and push the pedal because he was having problems with it. She told him that she'd go get another manager (Mr. Roth) to help him. The second she turned around and walked to get Mr. Roth, the man jumped back into his van and sped off. So she's safe, she was shaken up, the police have been notified, and Mr. D and Mr. Roth, as well as a good number of the male co-workers at the store, wish we could kick the shit out of this asshole.
But please... It's the holidays. We all want to do something nice for someone else, but let's all be safe and happy at the same time... Miss Ashworth is lucky that she was intelligent about that. There's no telling what would have happened had she gotten in the van...
I wish all of my friends the best, and the common sense to do great deeds but watch out for the vans of everyday...
God Bless...