I'm a little rusty. (some sad stuff)

[maskedpuppy]

I'm back!

I just moved halfway across the country, so now I'm working for a video game retailer in Florida! The new store is really slow, but it makes up for it by having WAY more sucky customers than my old one. I love my new coworkers though and my new DM keeps sending little whiffs of a promotion my way, and my manager keeps telling me to "just wait for my third week"...I smell keys!


In which I am nearly throttled.

My first day, I was wearing a small silver ankh on a necklace. Nothing huge or gaudy, and I was wearing a plain green shirt with a gray tank top underneath. I don't wear any makeup, my lip stud was visible of course (new manager is awesome and loves it ) but that's it. Cue this bullshit.

SC: Excuse me.
Me: Yes ma'am? What can I do fo-
SC: Take that filthy thing off your neck.
Me: O_O

I thought at first she was referring to my sunburn to be honest.

SC: Take it off or I will remove it for you. *grabby motion at my neck*
Me: *alarmed step backwards* Ma'am you do not dictate my store's dress code.
SC: This is a CHRISTIAN town, young lady. You'd do best to learn that before you get a lesson. We have a lot of good followers of Christ who would just DIE if they saw a girl with a witch symbol walking around h-
Me: -_- Please leave.

I'm not even pagan anymore. I just like Egyptian stuff. :c

And yes, she did get kicked out. Don't try to touch me. >:C


Triple Play Fail

Two high school aged guys walk in. Super greasy, kind of ditzy, overweight guys, gripping some filthy looking xbox 360 cases. Oh boy.

SC1: Heyyyy. You're new.
Me: Yup. What can I do for you guys?
SC2: *staring blankly at me*
SC1: Wanna trade these in for Mass Effect.
Me: Okie doke. *starts scanning* Got a member card?
SC1: No. Don't want one.

Fair enough. So I scan, making small talk with him about the game he wants, and eventually ask him for his ID

SC2: *breaks out of his trance* Shit.
SC1: Oh, uh, I'm just gonna use his.
Me: (oh dear sweet Anubis why me) Can't do that buddy, sorry.
SC2: But they're mine.
Me: I can't verify that that's true. Sorry guys.
SC1: What if we just take store credit?
Me: (wait, what? Wasn't that the original plan?) Uh...no, sorry, we need a valid photo ID for every trade. Sorry dude.

So they wander around for a minute, presumably trying to catch my awesome manager to complain or to try to bro-talk him into an exception (wouldn't work anyways).

Eventually they wander back up to the register and manage to catch T's attention.

SC1: Uh, do we need ID to get Black Ops?
T: Dunno. Bee?
Me: Yep, it's rated M for mature so we need an ID. Sorry guys!

They skulked out. I know this isn't the most fascinating story but T's deference to me made me giggle so much. I love this new store!


It just slipped out, I swear!
RL - Rude Lady
PK - Poor Kid
BK - Bitchy Kid
T - awesome new coworker

RL: *bangs open door, stomps in, and slams her games on the counter*
Me: *from kneeling behind the counter filing games* Oh hey, how you guys doin? What can I d-
RL: Trading in. *slams huge stacks of games, all in slimy looking plastic bags, all over the counter. At least fifty games.*
Me: O-
RL: Store credit. *Slaps both her license and store membership card on counter with obvious anger*
Me: Wasn't aware all of those were a state of being, but okie dokie.
RL: o_____o
PK:
BK:

That was only the beginning. I immediately felt awful for letting my sarcastic side slip forth, but I hate customers like this. Yes, we have a greeting script, yes, we have a format we have to follow with every transaction. You trying to do my job for me only makes me frustrated and determined to go through every part of the script with you as painfully as possible because I will not mess up just because you try to fluster me.

So, I start checking and scanning the games. RL is wandering around, with PK and BK wandering around behind her, squabbling like children. Let me clarify that these are both adults. PK definitely had some mental challenges (he didn't talk very well and he was very emotionally immature) but he was very polite, if childish in manner and I didn't mind helping him use the calculator to add up his game prices so he stayed in his budget one bit. I did, however, mind BK pushing him around, yelling at him to get games she liked, etc. She was probably about my age, extremely aware of what she was doing, and treated her brother like absolute trash.

RL was the worst, though. Every time he asked her about a game, she would SCREAM - and I mean REALLY scream; full out no holds barred SCREECHING - at him to shut the $(*% up and leave her alone to pick out her games. O_o A 50 year old woman treating her mentally ill son like trash because he was acting like, well, an excited kid with money in a video game store...that did not sit right with me. Nor did I appreciate her demand to ring all the games up in three seperate transactions...and put the price of each transaction on the SAME CREDIT CARD.

Finally I thought I was getting them out of there, and I went through my usual "anything coming out you're excited for, blah blah blah" and PK was super happy to find that we had one collector's tin left for a certain game and he could even afford to preorder it completely and get the tin! Yay! He was so happy; he couldn't stop talking about how he'd had to pick out a LOT of his games and even though he was sad to lose them he was happy he'd picked enough. He even seemed to grasp that he wouldn't get the actual game until October; he said he was "learning patience". It was really kind of cute.

And when I went to ring him through for it, RL immediately started screeching again. "YOU WILL NOT BE GETTING THAT. I DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE FOR NEW GAMES. RIDICULOUS." Staring me straight in the face the whole time.

So overall the taste that lady left in my mouth was bitter, sad, and angry. I understand that a lot of parents and siblings of mentally challenged people go through a lot of stress and frustration on their part, but...come on. :/ The kid didn't even do anything wrong. I know plenty of people of very sound mind and body who could learn a lot from PK and I felt terrible for him. Even through his mom's yelling, he kept smiling and he said he was just happy to pick out some games to take home and he'd get the new one another day.

[Becks]

I'd get PK that game if I could.

[Food Lady]

Well, this will make you feel better: I had the opposite story in my store today--a lady (in the truest sense of the word) about the same age with a disabled son. She was so patient with him, affirming his observations about the world around him, answering his questions, patiently allowing him to buy the toy he wanted with his own money. I first encountered them in the ladies' room, where she took him in the stall, since he needed help. She was patient there, too. I was smiling the whole time I observed them, and crying now as I type because I'm touched by her love.

[downforit2008]

If some lady tried to reach her arm out towards me to grab at my neck, she'd pull back a STUB! And what the hell is she shopping at a video game retailer if she's such a good "Christian"? Such a woman who would screech about you wearing a "witch" symbol would also be the kind of Christian who bitches about how video games are an "unnecessary evil brought upon the new generation." Believe me, I've met people who think that same way about video games and are in this same lady's category!

I've also met "good Christians" that point their fingers accusingly at my coworkers during a Sunday shift and insult them for "violating the Lord's Sabbath by working on Sunday" even though these morons are SHOPPING on Sunday! Go figure!

[emax4]

Not to get into fratching, but I was raised Catholic but have slipped away over the years. Still, if I were in your shoes when that lady went to grab it, I would have flipped out on her physically. Of course, I'd leave her with, "umm, as a Christian, aren't you taught to love your enemies??", then try to keep hugging her as she's trying to assault me.

[Moosenogger]

SC: Take it off or I will remove it for you. *grabby motion at my neck*

"Touch me and I'll punch your lights out."

I hate it when SCs dictate how you should live your life/what you wear. STFU, no one asked for your shitty opinion.

Edit:

Also, if you ever see a parent or guardian mistreating their child (either an adult with special needs or a minor, doesn't matter), and you have their license available, feel free to write down the necessary information and contact the authorities. No one deserves to be treated like trash, especially from someone who is supposed to be taking care of them.

[Seshat]

I'd get PK that game if I could.

You and me both.

And I'd try to find him a foster family or a carer centre that treated him better than his own relatives do.

[Amanita]

Another Ankh-wearer here, only mine's about 4" long! And if somebody tried to grab that, it would be On like freaking Donkey Kong. One, that thing was a gift from my parents, it's accompanied me to San Francisco and New York City, it's got sentimental value, big time. I'm also not a fan of religious bigotry or of people like that trash trying to impose their beliefs on others.

And yes, I've got no qualms about giving an older lady what she deserves if she instigates a fight by putting her hands on me and trying to take my property by force.
I'm not going to curbstomp the nasty old thing, but she's not getting a pass for being older either.

[Draco]

SC: This is a CHRISTIAN town, young lady. You'd do best to learn that before you get a lesson. We have a lot of good followers of Christ who would just DIE if they saw a girl with a witch symbol walking around h-

The funny thing is that Gnostic Christians long used the ankh (crux ansata) as a symbol of faith. So while it's a pagan symbol, it's also a Christian symbol (much like Christmas wreaths, trees, etc.)

[georgie]

good christians dont actually attempt to assault people

[RootedPhoenix]

What on earth was that woman on?

Also, poor PK. Everyone has value. His carer was just a..a..something I don't have a name for.

[M'oh Less]

Oh, this makes me miss my Moo! He would have been just as excited, and if I had the cash, I'd get him anything just to see that smile. I DO NOT understand how parents of special needs kids (even adult SP kids, you gave birth and raised them, you KNOW their quirks...) can be that cruel to that kind of innate innocence. We should all learn from these kids, adults, etc.

[cashierbex]

If someone tried to grab something from me in any situation, I would defend myself. Sorry, you don't know me. Judgemental .

And poor kid. There is this one kid who is hyper and I swear his mom grandmother and brother are bipolar. Some days they are nice to the kid and some days are just so rotten. Even the bro at times gets yelled at. The kid seems so sweet. Unfortunately don't know what their home life is like.

[Fudgethatkay]

When a woman is being a judgmental bitch about her "good" Christianity, I usually quote the scriptures about not judging, not condemning, and how we are to love those who our enemies...

And I am not even a good Christian, by their definitions, because I have more "liberal" ideals. Also, I have a temper

Anyways...moving on...

That poor kid....I agree with the rest on that sentiment

[AnaKhouri]

Wow, that first lady was a bitch. I'm Christian, go to church and everything, and I have two 'pagan' symbol pendants: a Thor's hammer and an Odin's raven. I like the way they look. So how would she even know?

I also have several Hello Kitty t-shirts, it doesn't mean I worship her as a god.

(nothing wrong with worshipping whoever you like, of course, I'm just pointing out the obvious fallacy in her logic)