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In which I finally lose it.

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  • #1

    In which I finally lose it.

    All the years of customer service. All the years of holding my tongue. I finally lost it on an SC.

    So, the background, so you can figure out where my brain was.

    September 21: A good friend is hospitalized for pregnancy complications
    September 26: My elderly cockatiel, Cookie, passed away.
    October 1: Have to rush my macaw to the emergency vet. She's hospitalized for a week.
    October 3: Major issue in the management of a large Facebook group I run, that was emotionally brutal to deal with.
    October 6: Two of my boys have surgery at the same time, multiple procedures each. One has complications and is admitted for two days.
    October 7: Above referenced friend is induced 5 weeks early. Catastrophic complications happen. Baby is resuscitated, but prognosis is poor.
    October 13: Friend receives news that the MRI on her baby shows "brain damage incompatible with life". She must now decide if/when to turn off the machines keeping him alive. I'm absolutely devastated for her.

    So, now we're at October 14th. I go to the grocery store. Their system is slowly crashing. Registers keep getting opened and closed as they work and don't work. Cashiers are trying to get everybody out, and as per policy, taking the next person in line as they open a new register. One of my favorite cashiers opens the register next to me and waves me over. Some woman who'd just walked up and wasn't in any line scoots in and tries to butt in front of me. The cashier reached around her stuff and rang up my stuff. The SC was being an absolute bitch and the cashier, in all her sweetness, said that she had to follow policy and take the next person in line, which was me, and that she had tried to jump the line. So this SC is just cursing and insulting the cashier and me and everybody else. I don't recall exactly what was said, as you can see from the above timeline, my brain wasn't exactly in the best place.

    I finally lost it. Again I don't recall exactly what I said, but I do recall it started off with "JUST SHUT UP and let this woman do her job! You're not so special you can break the damned rules". Of course she yelled back, and I responded back until I realized there was a crowd forming, and my normal distaste for drawing attention to myself kicked in and I left.

    A few days later, I was feeling bad about causing a scene, and I was in that cashier's line again, so I apologized if I made her uncomfortable. She said "oh, no! That was great. We were all sitting here mentally doing a jig cheering you on". But seriously, it felt so good to finally yell at an SC.
    At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.
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  • #2
    *offers virtual huggles and a teddy bear*

    No worries. You had (and have) a lot of things on your mind. That rule-breaking, foul SC (to both you and the workers) just picked the wrong moment to poke the mama bear. Look at it this way -- it sounds like you made their day for many of those cashiers ^_^
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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    • #3
      Argh. I hope the pressure eases up on you soon. -hugs- That woman had it coming and I hope she gets refused service the next time she darkens their doorway for being such a jerk.

      Comment

      • #4
        Quoth EricKei View Post
        *offers virtual huggles and a teddy bear*

        No worries. You had (and have) a lot of things on your mind. That rule-breaking, foul SC (to both you and the workers) just picked the wrong moment to poke the mama bear. Look at it this way -- it sounds like you made their day for many of those cashiers ^_^
        Yep. As somebody who works in retail (but luckily deals with very VERY few SCs) I can tell you the staff always LOVE somebody who steps in on their behalf -- because of course they can't do much in the face of an SC except stand there and take it.

        And I sympathize with those cashiers. We just got some new software on our machine, in line with the stuff our parent company uses, and the system now moves like the proverbial molasses in January. Can't wait for the Christmas rush.
        Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
        ~ Mr Hero

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        • #5
          Yup, the grocery store I go to most often just got a whole new POS system not terribly long ago, so there's that constant annoyance. Though I think this was an unrelated crash they were dealing with.

          I'm usually pretty non-confrontational. Any sort of confrontation actually kicks my anxiety into such high gear that I vomit, so this was really unlike me. But I'm glad the cashiers were happy. The one lady did say it was all the better because I'm not normally like that. She said she didn't even know I knew any curse words, let alone how to use the.

          And thanks. The last month has just been rough; not as rough as my friend's, as absolutely nothing can be as devastating as what she's gone through (she chose to discontinue life support and the baby passed last week), but it still hasn't been easy.
          At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

          Comment

          • #6
            sorry to hear for your bad luck lately. But you did a good thing yelling at that SC. I always wished someone would when I was a cashier. And I wish that I could do the same thing for another cashier. The closest I've gotten was this crazy man who cut and butted in front of me in line, came an inch from my face, like what're YOU gonna do about it huh?!?! Ooh I wanted to him out. But he wasn't picking on the cashier. Actually the cashier didn't even notice :\
            Can't reason with the unreasonable.
            The only thing worse than not getting hired is getting hired.

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            • #7
              I'm glad something was said to her even if it was heated. People like that continue to behave that way because no one ever tells them the truth.
              I feel you all on the computer system. My new company had a complete changeover in billing last spring and it's still doing bizarre things with the bills. It's the whole reason I have a job, though, and make as much as I do. I spend my whole day apologizing.
              "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

              Comment

              • #8
                It took a LOT for me NOT to do something like this just after my GF passed away (7 months ago) THEN 4 or 5 weeks later having to put my long time furry companion (my Golden Retriver doggie) to sleep. Then add in the uncertainty about GF's house, my future in general, etc. I was a WRECK for a period of like 4 months or so.

                Had the same thing happen just over 6 years ago after my Mom passed away. During the week between her passing and the funeral I had some customer at a manufacturing plant tell me to SMILE. I looked at her (really wanting to VENT my spleen at her) that my MOTHER had just passed away a couple of days before and I was dealing with that. She just looked at me like I was crazy. I completed the transaction and just walked away.
                I'm lost without a paddle and headed up SH*T creek.
                -- Life Sucks Then You Die.

                "I'll believe corp. are people when Texas executes one."

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                • #9
                  She said she didn't even know I knew any curse words, let alone how to use them.
                  I had a similar reputation back when I worked at BoutiqueGrocery back in the day. On one of the few days I let fly with a curse (outside of customer hearing), my CW's expressed the sentiment that they realized something was very, very wrong "because Eric actually cursed." I don't recall what it was now, though Been over two decades.
                  "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                  "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                  "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                  "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                  "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                  "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                  Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                  "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    *hugs mathnerd*

                    And I send hugs and prayers to you and your friend. <3
                    1129. I will refrain from casting Dimension Jump and Magnificent Mansion on every police box we pass.
                    -----
                    http://orchidcolors.livejournal.com (A blog about everything and nothing)

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