Your watch is never wrong?

[Kusanagi]

I've had plenty of people yell at me when I close and they want to come in, but thanks to the comic strip "Retail" I now finally have an answer to those that tell me our clocks are wrong.

Got my first chance to use it last night.

I've done all the paperwork for the evening and am just ticking down the seconds until I can go home. The alarm hits 6pm, I set it, go outside, and lock the showroom doors, RIGHT as a woman pulls up.

SC: You can't be closed, it's 5:55!
Me: Sorry ma'am, we're closed for the evening. You'll have to come back tommorrow.
SC: I'm going to call the corporate office and tell them what a horrible employee you are for closing the store early! I have some shopping I must get done!
Me: It wouldn't do any good. OUR clocks say it's after 6 and thats what they'll show in the computer.
SC: My clock is set to the atomic one, it is never wrong!
Me: Our alarm says it's 6, our computer says it's 6, our credit card machine says it's 6, and our check machine says it's 6. I'm going to go with them, sorry.

I open my car door and she screams at me.

SC: Well what time do you open the store tommorrow, you little shit?
Me: We open at 9:55, ma'am.

Took her about five seconds to figure out what I had just said, and she got FURIOUS. Peeled out in her car and left a nice patch of rubber.

I wonder if she came back in this morning. I'll find out for sure.

[ArenaBoy]

Kusanagi, you made me do this:

It's funny how customers think that they have the right time just when you're about to close. What they also don't seem to understand is that there are procedures to be followed that lead up to closing, and that we're not going to drop everything just so they can shop.

[protege]

SC: Well what time do you open the store tommorrow, you little shit?
Me: We open at 9:55, ma'am.

Took her about five seconds to figure out what I had just said, and she got FURIOUS. Peeled out in her car and left a nice patch of rubber.

Now that was freaking awesome! In fact, it made my afternoon!

[Crosshair]

I always hate those atomic watches. Chances are that no other place is using that exact time. Our time clock is a few minutes different than the atomic watches. I'm gona go with the time clock.

[CanadaGirl]

"Atomic clock"? Is she from the moon?

[One-Fang]

Just say "We're a few miles away from the nearest international time line, so we're in a very slightly different time zone."

[Ree]

"Atomic clock"?

Atomic clocks are supposed to have the most accurate time possible.

[Jack T. Chance]

Info re: Atomic time watches...

FYI: The U.S. Atomic Clock, located in Ft. Collins, Colorado and operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is one of the most accurate clocks in the world, with an accuracy rated at something like + or - 1 second in a million years! ^_^

The U.S. Atomic Clock maintains the official time for the U.S. Government and its agencies. Many TV and radio stations synchronize their clocks to the official time as determined by the U.S. Atomic Clock, and some phone companies may, as well.

As for the "atomic clocks" and "atomic watches" found in stores, they themselves are not actual atomic clocks, as people don't want to strap anything radioactive onto their wrist. What they actually contain is a radio receiver. The U.S. Atomic Clock is connected to a large radio transmitter that broadcasts the official time 24/7, with a range of some 2,000-3,000 miles from the clock in Colorado. Every day, the clocks and watches you see in stores "listen" for that signal and synchronize themselves to it. I know all this because I have a desk clock and a Casio wristwatch that use this technology. I also synch my Windows XP PC's clock* to the Atomic Clock, as well! And I for one DO use the official U.S. time to determine when to open and close my store!

And yes, I AM enough of a geek to think that level of precision is really cool! ;-)

Now, having said all that... I currently sell matresses for a living. And some of you may remember that in the past, I spent about 5 years selling bunkbeds and other bedroom furniture. Needless to say, buying furniture isn't like running into 7-11 to buy a soda. The process takes time, I've figured it out as something like a half-hour per customer as a good ballpark figure. So, in this industry, I consider it the height of rudeness on the customer's part to waltz in right at the stated closing time, expecting me to stay a half-hour to an hour after the time I'm supposed to be off to sell them something! I work 11 hours a day during the "work week" and 10 hours on Saturday. That's right, I work all day, open-close, 5 days a week. So, at closing time, I'm ready to go HOME!

The last 2 Saturdays in a row, I've had people waltz in right at 7:55 or 8:00, when we close at 8, causing me to be stuck at the store 'til about 9!

So, starting this Saturday, I have a new policy: the door will be locked somewhere between 7:50 & 7:55, and the "OPEN" sign turned off. When the sign says we close at 8, that means that at 8:00, all customers are already out of the store, the doors are locked, lights are off, papework's done, and I go home! And any customers who didn't manage to drag their lazy butts in during the 10 hours that we were actually open can kiss my butt!

I know my bosses probably wouldn't agree with that philosophy, but 2 weeks in a row of having my Saturday night plans ruined by inconsiderate pricks is quite enough of that, thankyouverymuch! I get precious little time off as it is, and I'm not about to let customers rob me of what little time I have that I can call my own! }=D




*To do this, double-click the clock in the corner. When the properties/settings window opens, click the tab labelled "Internet Time". Then, change the source from "Windows Time" to "NIST Time". Once a week, your PC will automatically synch with the U.S. Atomic Clock, and you can manually synch it more frequently than that by clicking the "Update Now" button.

[karma_gypsy]

SC: Well what time do you open the store tommorrow, you little shit?
Me: We open at 9:55, ma'am.

Any kind of shopping she would do would take longer than five minutes anyway. Most owners don't want to pay their employees for the extra half an hour spent to wait on the customer (who will probably only end up spending a few dollars anyway . . .)

Plus, after you locked the doors, weren't you off the clock at that time? If you weren't wearing any work clothes, you could pretty much say anything you want to her . . .

[Seanette]

As for the "atomic clocks" and "atomic watches" found in stores, they themselves are not actual atomic clocks, as people don't want to strap anything radioactive onto their wrist. What they actually contain is a radio receiver. The U.S. Atomic Clock is connected to a large radio transmitter that broadcasts the official time 24/7, with a range of some 2,000-3,000 miles from the clock in Colorado. Every day, the clocks and watches you see in stores "listen" for that signal and sych themselves to it. I know all this because I have a desk clock and a Casio wristwatch that use this technology. I also synch my Windows XP PC's clock* to the Atomic Clock, as well! And I for one DO use the official U.S. time to determine when to open and close my store!

And yes, I AM enough of a geek to think that level of precision is really cool! ;-)[/size]

Counting my husband's wristwatch, we have at least three such timepieces around the house, and he has both our computers configured to hit a time server to update system time as needed (my Win2K system uses a program called "AtomTime" to do this, don't know what his Mac uses). Yes, he's slightly compulsive about our timepieces (he's a computer geek turned forklift operator).

[lordlundar]

Geek here!

I picked up one of those "link watches", basically, the watch can connect to the computer and be set from there. So much easier and more accurate.

I never have to worry about that situation happening, our store clocks are about 10 mins behind!

[Jester]

SC: My clock is set to the atomic one, it is never wrong!

Counting my husband's wristwatch, we have at least three such timepieces around the house, and he has both our computers configured to hit a time server to update system time as needed (my Win2K system uses a program called "AtomTime" to do this, don't know what his Mac uses). Yes, he's slightly compulsive about our timepieces (he's a computer geek turned forklift operator).

Down here in the tropics, most people don't wear watches. Heck, I haven't even owned one since my sophomore year of high school, so that works well for me. See, down here, we have something called "Island Time." Which basically means "about when we feel like it." Or, if an event is running late, or someone is not on time, it is because of the person or event or even planners or whatever "being on island time."

With that backdrop, we get anal people occasionally who haven't quite gotten to the point of actually relaxing on their vacation, and asking about happy hour. Typical of some conversations I have had, both at one of my current jobs and other past jobs. (My other current job, I AM the bartender, and we do whatever specials we feel like, when we feel like it, with no set happy hour.)

SC: "When does happy hour start?"
ME: "At 5."
SC: "It's almost 5 now."
ME: "Right. And it's almost happy hour."
SC: "So can't you give me happy hour prices now?"
ME: "Nope."
SC: "Why not?"
ME: "It's not happy hour yet. And the bartenders won't give me drinks at happy hour prices before happy hour, and my manager would kick my butt."
SC: "But MY watch says it's 5!"
ME: "Great! At your place it's happy hour! But here at [my bar], it's not happy hour until [my bar]'s clocks say it's 5!"

[Gurndigarn]

(my Win2K system uses a program called "AtomTime" to do this, don't know what his Mac uses).

If you're using system 10.4, and possibly 10.3, clicking the "Set time automatically" in the Date and Time settings causes your computer to automatically ping a server every so often to synchronize times. Presumably, that server has some connection to the atomic clock.

[Seanette]

If you're using system 10.4, and possibly 10.3, clicking the "Set time automatically" in the Date and Time settings causes your computer to automatically ping a server every so often to synchronize times. Presumably, that server has some connection to the atomic clock.

That's probably what he did, now that we have DSL (just migrated from dialup a couple of weeks ago). I don't use his computer if I can avoid it, so it's his problem.

[ArenaBoy]

See, down here, we have something called "Island Time." Which basically means "about when we feel like it." Or, if an event is running late, or someone is not on time, it is because of the person or event or even planners or whatever "being on island time."

Island time, so that explains why I'm so lazy. I live that kind of lifestyle a little too much for my own good. I like doing things whenever I like when I feel like it. I tried following a schedule at one point but it's just too regimented for me. I need to move down to the tropics just so I can relax permenantly.