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We all know Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) and today I lived it.
Things were going pretty well (although the store had been busy) until around 4 pm today (the store closed at 5). They were three of us on which was enough to handle the workload, but one of them left at 4. No problem for me because I'd gotten done most of what I wanted to and the last hour would leave me plenty of time to finish up what else needed to be done...or so I believed.
So my colleague goes to the bathroom and doesn't re-emerge for a good 10 or so minutes, when he does, it's to say "The toilet overflowed and there's water all over the floor of the back room" , where some of our most EXPENSIVE stock is kept. I roll my eyes. (fortunately we didn't not lose any stock to the water).
My coworker said he flushed it and when it refilled it didn't stop filling (oh just admit you clogged the damned thing already!). Evidently he was unaware that most every toilet has a shutoff valve to avoid such catastrophes. Since our manager is very slow at ordering supplies I had to dash next door to get some paper towels for the mess.
It takes him quite awhile to clean it up, nearly all the way to close.
So now I have to run the register in addition to everything else on my "to do" list. I was actually managing not too badly when "she" arrived, yes it was the woman of 1000 questions. She wouldn't stop, question after question about PS2 and Xbox games, I answered them and deliberately tried to move away from her (while still making myself accessible), but she followed me everywhere I went.
Nearly TWENTY minutes this went on (and regretfully no one else came in to the store to give me an excuse to leave her) and I couldn't get away from her because I was the only person on the floor. . She might have been a mystery shopper (which would be brilliant because she would therefore have picked one of the WORST damned times of the week to show up), but I doubt it.
By the time she was gone, it was 4:52 PM. I did as much as I could in the final 8 minutes, but wouldn't you know it? At 5 pm, just as I am about to lock the door, two customers saunter into the store. I tell them we are closing, they proceed to quickly browse and pick out games. By the time I get them out it's 5:08 and I have barely made any progress on the stuff I was trying to get done at 4!
So my coworker returns and close out the tills for the night, but since this is definitely NOT my day, wouldn't you know it? Twenty dollars has apparently gone missing (our computer indicated one amount for deposit, and the debit machine another). GRRRRR, that means on top of everything else I now have to make two phone calls (one to manager, one to head office), which adds to the delay in getting out of the store.
So between me frantically scrambling to tidy up (not clean up, I mean just make shit look neat and clean the counter) and him having to rebox a few of the systems which had been soaked in the great bathroom flood, we didn't walk out of the store until 5:53 PM.
And this was the ONE day I really would have liked to be out by 5:15 (typically we get out around 5:20, 5:15 if we're lucky, personal best is 5:10
)
But that woman, that leeching, inquisitive woman. I could've been out by 5:30 if not for her.
And the final kick to my nuts? There's still two huge piles of stuff waiting for me to do tomorrow.
Things were going pretty well (although the store had been busy) until around 4 pm today (the store closed at 5). They were three of us on which was enough to handle the workload, but one of them left at 4. No problem for me because I'd gotten done most of what I wanted to and the last hour would leave me plenty of time to finish up what else needed to be done...or so I believed.
So my colleague goes to the bathroom and doesn't re-emerge for a good 10 or so minutes, when he does, it's to say "The toilet overflowed and there's water all over the floor of the back room" , where some of our most EXPENSIVE stock is kept. I roll my eyes. (fortunately we didn't not lose any stock to the water).
My coworker said he flushed it and when it refilled it didn't stop filling (oh just admit you clogged the damned thing already!). Evidently he was unaware that most every toilet has a shutoff valve to avoid such catastrophes. Since our manager is very slow at ordering supplies I had to dash next door to get some paper towels for the mess.
It takes him quite awhile to clean it up, nearly all the way to close.
So now I have to run the register in addition to everything else on my "to do" list. I was actually managing not too badly when "she" arrived, yes it was the woman of 1000 questions. She wouldn't stop, question after question about PS2 and Xbox games, I answered them and deliberately tried to move away from her (while still making myself accessible), but she followed me everywhere I went.
Nearly TWENTY minutes this went on (and regretfully no one else came in to the store to give me an excuse to leave her) and I couldn't get away from her because I was the only person on the floor. . She might have been a mystery shopper (which would be brilliant because she would therefore have picked one of the WORST damned times of the week to show up), but I doubt it.
By the time she was gone, it was 4:52 PM. I did as much as I could in the final 8 minutes, but wouldn't you know it? At 5 pm, just as I am about to lock the door, two customers saunter into the store. I tell them we are closing, they proceed to quickly browse and pick out games. By the time I get them out it's 5:08 and I have barely made any progress on the stuff I was trying to get done at 4!
So my coworker returns and close out the tills for the night, but since this is definitely NOT my day, wouldn't you know it? Twenty dollars has apparently gone missing (our computer indicated one amount for deposit, and the debit machine another). GRRRRR, that means on top of everything else I now have to make two phone calls (one to manager, one to head office), which adds to the delay in getting out of the store.
So between me frantically scrambling to tidy up (not clean up, I mean just make shit look neat and clean the counter) and him having to rebox a few of the systems which had been soaked in the great bathroom flood, we didn't walk out of the store until 5:53 PM.
And this was the ONE day I really would have liked to be out by 5:15 (typically we get out around 5:20, 5:15 if we're lucky, personal best is 5:10
)But that woman, that leeching, inquisitive woman. I could've been out by 5:30 if not for her.
And the final kick to my nuts? There's still two huge piles of stuff waiting for me to do tomorrow.
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