Our video game store has a corporate office that always throws out an ad for Black Friday items and then ships us only ten of the items the day before. It doesn’t excuse certain customer behavior, though:
It is the year the Wii has come out. It’s not a Black Friday sale item, but it has been advertised as available on Black Friday, so a huge line has formed two hours before our midnight opening!
Of course, the Wii’s are gone by five minutes past midnight. Later, around 3 AM (I still can’t believe we were open at that hour) a mother is at the register demanding a Wii. As I explain to her that we are sold out she pushes her young son (maybe six or seven years old?) in my direction and says:
Customer: “This is my son. Can you please explain to him how you’ve personally ruined his Christmas?”
I smile, and crouch down to talk to her son face to face.
Me: “Because the parents who love their children more lined up two hours before we opened, but your mommy loves you less and walked in here three hours after we opened on Black Friday and was too self-centered to realize she’s not the only person on Earth.”
Customer: Blinks.
Me: Standing back up and facing the mom. “Does that about cover it?”
Customer: Storming out. “I’ll be writing to your Corporate about this!”
Me: “Please do! They’re the ones who under-stocked us!”
It is Black Friday, 1999 at a super large Big Box store. I am six years old at the time and my brother is three. My mom has picked up a heavily discounted Pikachu stuffed animal and hands it to my brother to play with.
Some woman comes up to the cart while my mom is picking up a few dolls and snatches the Pikachu from my brother.
I’m too young to remember this, but as my mom puts it, I stomped over to the lady, looked her dead in the eye, and said to her as my baby brother cried:
Me: “You should be ashamed.”
The woman sheepishly handed it back without a word.
What Happens In The Cabbage Patch Stays In The Cabbage Patch
Allegedly, during the Cabbage Patch Kids craze during the 80’s, my mom wanted to get two dolls for her two daughters. She had to share everything with her sisters, so she was determined that we would always have our own toys.
During a crazy Black Friday sale (at least for back then) some crazy lady saw Mom in line with two Cabbage Patch Kid dolls and tried to take one away:
Crazy Lady: “You don’t need two, you selfish b****!”
Years later, I ask Mom:
Me: “What happened to the lady?”
Mom: “I got those dolls for you, and that’s all you need to know…”
Black Friday was a huge event at our store. We had dirt cheap prices on store brands, barebones desktops that went for under $200 (as long as you didn’t mind buying a Windows Install CD to replace the Linux OS already installed), the ten Sony PlayStations available at the time, and things like that. By the time I arrived at the store, there was a line stretching around the borders on the far side of the parking lot, and that was at 4:00 am.
We were scheduled to open at 5:00 am. Anyone could see what was coming.
When I walked in for the store meeting, every single person who worked there was on shift. We were all assigned to our stations, but I was working Returns at the time, so I stayed up front, out of the way.
Before I continue, some pertinent information: between the cart return section and the Returns counters was a twenty-five-foot-wide space to allow for entry. Just to the right as you passed this section, a thick, load-bearing column supporting a second-story catwalk (not metal, concrete) blocked full access to the area just past it, where the front of the store opened up considerably.
The doors were unlocked, the doors slid open, and a human wave of bargain-craving animals surged into the store. The people at the front were so impatient after sitting outside in cold weather since 11:00 pm the night before that they were pushing the people in front of them out of the way, and a couple of them were slammed into — you guessed it — the load-bearing column.
Ambulances were called, people were arrested, and the next Black Friday, one of my jobs at the start of the day was standing in front of this pillar to make sure it didn’t happen again.
Oh, No! If It Isn’t The Consequences Of My Own Actions!, Part 4
One Black Friday I was wandering around a crowded store when I heard a man yelling at an employee. As I got closer and listened in, I discovered that the issue was that the store had run out of shopping carts and the customer was demanding the one that the employee had, which I assumed was a stock cart.
The employee explained quite clearly that the cart had been hit by a rather large truck and it needed to be evaluated for damage and be repaired or scrapped, but the customer didn’t care. Another customer and I, along with another staff member intervened on the employee’s behalf but the individual would not take no for an answer.
Then, the staffer got distracted by another customer and the man grabbed the cart and sprinted away with it. He managed to make it barely an aisle away before both front wheels came off the cart and rolled away. The triangular pieces of metal responsible for holding the wheels dug violently into the ground and, because he was at a full sprint, the customer’s own momentum caused the cart to flip up onto its nose and then upside down, throwing him through the air as if he had been fired from a trebuchet. He hit a Pop Tarts display face-first causing it to collapse just as the manager arrived with security.
Manager: “That was pretty cool.”
Employee: “Uh, what?”
Manager: “Sorry, I mean, someone call an ambulance.”
The Pop Tart man ended up getting checked out by EMS, deemed uninjured and then had to deal with the police and store management due to the damage to the floor. A mixture of staff and customers worked together to rebuild the Pop Tart pyramid.
At This Point, If You Don’t Physically Attack A Worker, You’re One Of The Better Ones…
I am a customer at a home improvement chain on Black Friday (yeah, I know), in the late afternoon. I saw a deal, but I am unsure if what I am holding is part of the deal. I go to find a worker to double-check, and he starts looking into it.
Me: With a smirk “I’m going to get your manager if I can’t read the sign right.”
Worker: Also smiling “Well, at least you tried to read the sign!”
While he helps me, I keep giving him a hard time jokingly about needing to check, getting the correct item, and such.
Then, I just feel bad when he says very sadly:
Worker: “Thank you for being so nice to me today.”
Bro, I was being a sarcastic s***head. Is the bar that low?
On my union Facebook page I posted something about trump. A trumper said, “you’re a $%%$%%& idiot”, I didn’t respond. Didn’t say I was wrong or defend his messiah. Later on, I insulted him and he threatened me.
FreyjaRN Premium Member 3 days ago
That’s on them.
Yakety Sax 3 days ago
Main Character Parenting
Our video game store has a corporate office that always throws out an ad for Black Friday items and then ships us only ten of the items the day before. It doesn’t excuse certain customer behavior, though:
It is the year the Wii has come out. It’s not a Black Friday sale item, but it has been advertised as available on Black Friday, so a huge line has formed two hours before our midnight opening!
Of course, the Wii’s are gone by five minutes past midnight. Later, around 3 AM (I still can’t believe we were open at that hour) a mother is at the register demanding a Wii. As I explain to her that we are sold out she pushes her young son (maybe six or seven years old?) in my direction and says:
Customer: “This is my son. Can you please explain to him how you’ve personally ruined his Christmas?”
I smile, and crouch down to talk to her son face to face.
Me: “Because the parents who love their children more lined up two hours before we opened, but your mommy loves you less and walked in here three hours after we opened on Black Friday and was too self-centered to realize she’s not the only person on Earth.”
Customer: Blinks.
Me: Standing back up and facing the mom. “Does that about cover it?”
Customer: Storming out. “I’ll be writing to your Corporate about this!”
Me: “Please do! They’re the ones who under-stocked us!”
Yakety Sax 3 days ago
We’ve Evolved From Stealing Candy From A Baby
It is Black Friday, 1999 at a super large Big Box store. I am six years old at the time and my brother is three. My mom has picked up a heavily discounted Pikachu stuffed animal and hands it to my brother to play with.
Some woman comes up to the cart while my mom is picking up a few dolls and snatches the Pikachu from my brother.
I’m too young to remember this, but as my mom puts it, I stomped over to the lady, looked her dead in the eye, and said to her as my baby brother cried:
Me: “You should be ashamed.”
The woman sheepishly handed it back without a word.
Yakety Sax 3 days ago
What Happens In The Cabbage Patch Stays In The Cabbage Patch
Allegedly, during the Cabbage Patch Kids craze during the 80’s, my mom wanted to get two dolls for her two daughters. She had to share everything with her sisters, so she was determined that we would always have our own toys.
During a crazy Black Friday sale (at least for back then) some crazy lady saw Mom in line with two Cabbage Patch Kid dolls and tried to take one away:
Crazy Lady: “You don’t need two, you selfish b****!”
Years later, I ask Mom:
Me: “What happened to the lady?”
Mom: “I got those dolls for you, and that’s all you need to know…”
Yakety Sax 3 days ago
A Pillar Of Every Black Friday
Black Friday was a huge event at our store. We had dirt cheap prices on store brands, barebones desktops that went for under $200 (as long as you didn’t mind buying a Windows Install CD to replace the Linux OS already installed), the ten Sony PlayStations available at the time, and things like that. By the time I arrived at the store, there was a line stretching around the borders on the far side of the parking lot, and that was at 4:00 am.
We were scheduled to open at 5:00 am. Anyone could see what was coming.
When I walked in for the store meeting, every single person who worked there was on shift. We were all assigned to our stations, but I was working Returns at the time, so I stayed up front, out of the way.
Before I continue, some pertinent information: between the cart return section and the Returns counters was a twenty-five-foot-wide space to allow for entry. Just to the right as you passed this section, a thick, load-bearing column supporting a second-story catwalk (not metal, concrete) blocked full access to the area just past it, where the front of the store opened up considerably.
The doors were unlocked, the doors slid open, and a human wave of bargain-craving animals surged into the store. The people at the front were so impatient after sitting outside in cold weather since 11:00 pm the night before that they were pushing the people in front of them out of the way, and a couple of them were slammed into — you guessed it — the load-bearing column.
Ambulances were called, people were arrested, and the next Black Friday, one of my jobs at the start of the day was standing in front of this pillar to make sure it didn’t happen again.
Yakety Sax 3 days ago
Oh, No! If It Isn’t The Consequences Of My Own Actions!, Part 4
One Black Friday I was wandering around a crowded store when I heard a man yelling at an employee. As I got closer and listened in, I discovered that the issue was that the store had run out of shopping carts and the customer was demanding the one that the employee had, which I assumed was a stock cart.
The employee explained quite clearly that the cart had been hit by a rather large truck and it needed to be evaluated for damage and be repaired or scrapped, but the customer didn’t care. Another customer and I, along with another staff member intervened on the employee’s behalf but the individual would not take no for an answer.
Then, the staffer got distracted by another customer and the man grabbed the cart and sprinted away with it. He managed to make it barely an aisle away before both front wheels came off the cart and rolled away. The triangular pieces of metal responsible for holding the wheels dug violently into the ground and, because he was at a full sprint, the customer’s own momentum caused the cart to flip up onto its nose and then upside down, throwing him through the air as if he had been fired from a trebuchet. He hit a Pop Tarts display face-first causing it to collapse just as the manager arrived with security.
Manager: “That was pretty cool.”
Employee: “Uh, what?”
Manager: “Sorry, I mean, someone call an ambulance.”
The Pop Tart man ended up getting checked out by EMS, deemed uninjured and then had to deal with the police and store management due to the damage to the floor. A mixture of staff and customers worked together to rebuild the Pop Tart pyramid.
Yakety Sax 3 days ago
At This Point, If You Don’t Physically Attack A Worker, You’re One Of The Better Ones…
I am a customer at a home improvement chain on Black Friday (yeah, I know), in the late afternoon. I saw a deal, but I am unsure if what I am holding is part of the deal. I go to find a worker to double-check, and he starts looking into it.
Me: With a smirk “I’m going to get your manager if I can’t read the sign right.”
Worker: Also smiling “Well, at least you tried to read the sign!”
While he helps me, I keep giving him a hard time jokingly about needing to check, getting the correct item, and such.
Then, I just feel bad when he says very sadly:
Worker: “Thank you for being so nice to me today.”
Bro, I was being a sarcastic s***head. Is the bar that low?
Doug K 3 days ago
I think she has discovered that “Do unto others as they do unto you.” is not the Golden Rule.
The Reader Premium Member 3 days ago
That’s against the law!
Shirl Summ Premium Member 3 days ago
I think your confused Aunty. You’re supposed to treat people as you want to be treated.
dflak 3 days ago
Do unto others as you wish others do unto you. – The golden rule.
Do unto others as others wish to be done unto – The platinum rule. Not every one is like you or likes the things you like.
Do unto others before others do unto you – the selfish rule. It is unfortunately, all too common in today’s America. Don’t be one of these jerks.
pheets 3 days ago
Amazing, isn’t it?!
ladykat 3 days ago
I noticed that.
jango 3 days ago
Well, Aunty, welcome to the “Do as I say, Not as I do” club
Daltongang Premium Member 3 days ago
Which is why you are always offended Aunty. Think about it.
CorkLock 3 days ago
Let sleeping dogs lie.
Kurtass 3 days ago
On my union Facebook page I posted something about trump. A trumper said, “you’re a $%%$%%& idiot”, I didn’t respond. Didn’t say I was wrong or defend his messiah. Later on, I insulted him and he threatened me.
rockyridge1977 3 days ago
If you can’t take it……don’t dish it out!!!!
cuzinron47 3 days ago
I think what you’re talking about is retribution.
Smeagol 3 days ago
Avoid, Avoid. Avoid. Pepper spray. Kidding, avoid again then get out of there. I do not like being labeled a perpetrator by the cops.
Katzi428 3 days ago
Some people don’t want to believe this!
NolaMan 3 days ago
Im offended that your offended (I know its the wrong your, I did it to offend the english majors!)