Karma

Sometimes karma does indeed work. For instance... This old man who used to come into the store a few years ago recently began shopping in the store again. A few years ago he used to come in, demand to have his change exchanged for bills, yell at the cashiers, and be an all around ass. This man yelled at everyone over every little thing. In fact, when K.F. first started working there, she was on the register and he started yelling at her. I had to tell him that he couldn't yell at the cashiers. And when N.S.J.V. worked there, I remember her once telling him to stop yelling and that she would refuse to help him if he yelled at her again. She even made him repeat it, and he left the store grumbling under his breath. Well since he started coming in again, he now has a hole in his throat and can't speak a word. And guess what? He's been a lot nicer. See, sometimes karma does work!

I'M GONNA SMOOTH TALK YOU TO GET YOU BACK TO MY PLACE TONIGHT OLD GUY: A.K.A. THE CREEPY PERVERTED GUY

this old creepy perverted guy came into the store and asked me to see my hand. not knowing what that was all about, i showed him. he commented that i didn't have a ring and was like, "so, you're not married. you should watch out for old wolves like me." i was like, okay, a little weird, but nothing out of the ordinary for a work day at the store. so, he comes up to the register, and while i'm ringing his items up, he starts telling me that i should come over to his place that night. but it's not once or twice that he says this, it's several times. then he tells me how i'm not that innocent. like he knows. anyways, so he goes on to say that maybe he should be afraid that i would rape him. then offers that he wouldn't mind. by this time i'm thinking, what a sicko and i'm hoping that he'll just take his things and leave, never to be seen again. but no, he keeps on talking. he asks me what my name is in chinese. i tell him i'm not chinese. so then he wants to know what i am. so, i tell him, and he's like, so, what's your name in korean? so, i tell him and he doesn't get it. by this time, i'm forcing myself to be polite, but i'm wishing that another employee would come over. meanwhile, there's other people in line and this perverted guy keeps on trying to talk to me. before he finally leaves, he's told me that (1) i should go to his place that night, (2) he's probably too young for me (this guy's like 50), (3) something about him being black, (4) he wouldn't mind if i raped him (something i definitely could've lived without hearing), and (5) that he's only trying to make me smile. as if i don't smile enough already.

now how creepy and perverted is that?

i'm really hoping that this one won't come back again. i'm also hoping that we shall never cross paths in the street.

THE TURN AROUND IN CIRCLES JUMP BACK STAB HAND SCARY CRAZY MAN

this guy comes in the store frequently. not as frequent as some of our daily customers, but he's a regular to the store. sometimes he has one or two other guys with him. one time he was all angry and was cussing the other guys out saying 'F' this and 'F' that. well, he comes into the store all alone. he buys his alcohol (his usual purchase), and goes to pay with his credit card. now, at least he pulls out his i.d. each time. i'll give him that. but when i go to hand him the receipt to sign, he grabs it off the counter (usually he'll just turn it in circles three times and then sign it), and wrinkles it as he holds it to his chest. then, he grabs the pen and stabs himself with it where the receipt is. then, he holds it (the receipt) with one hand while he signs it with the other. he then remembers that he also wants some cigarettes, and so i go to get those for him. this time he doesn't stab himself, but he still grabs the receipt and holds it to his chest before holding it in his one hand to sign. then, as he leaves, he grabs his bag and 12 pk and forgets his i.d. and credit card, so as much as i want him to just leave, i have to call him back to get his cards and after he gets them, as he's walking out the door, he turns around in circles and jumps backwards out of the store. boy was i sure glad he was gone.

SCOT KICKS SOME BUTT!

i was impressed by my manager today (10.27.05). let's call him scot. why? because that's his name. anyways, SCOT KICKED BUTT!!! this guy came in this morning that always steals from us and we didn't see him come in, only going out. in fact, it's like the 3rd time or so that he's been kicked out of the store. scot called out to him to come back in the store and asked him what he had stolen. he got back a can of hair gel or something and then tried to get what was in the guy's backpack, cause he saw some wine in there and something else. the guy got all aggressive and took off. scot followed after him and grabbed his backpack, ripping it. the guy took a swing at him and from what i saw, tried to hit him with his bike. i, of course, got all worried about scot, hoping he was alright. you never know with these people. they're scary! anyways, what a way to start out the day, eh?

THE 'I DON'T GET IT BECAUSE I'M FROM FRANCE' LADY

this lady comes up to the register and wants to exchange some vitamins she claims are expired for some new ones. so, the first thing i check is their expiration date, and lo and behold, they expire in may of '06. she claims they say they expire may 6, of this year and i try to tell her that they are not yet expired and that it means may of 2006, but she tells me that she is going out of the country (to france) and wants some that have a longer date. so, the next thing i check is to see if they are the same product, since, if they are, we can do an even exchange and not have to fill out all the paperwork. of course they are some different vitamins. however, they are the same sale price of $5. so, i have her fill out the paperwork and do the return for her, keeping the cash in the drawer. now, since she had some other stuff she was buying, instead of ringing her vitamins up separately, i rang up everything together and subtracted the cost of the vitamins from the return, which was like $10.78. well the total without the vitamins was like $27.XX something. the original price was $37.XX minus the $10.78 for the vitamins. when i told her the total, she got all flustered and was like, "but i was supposed to get the vitamins for the same price!" and i was like, yes, you did. i even showed her the returns receipt where she was getting back her $10.78 and she still didn't get it. unfortunately for briana, she was standing nearby, so i had her come try to explain it to the lady. she even tore off receipt to show her where i had subtracted the $10.78 from the total and the lady still didn't get it. she didn't realize that the other stuff she was buying added up to $27.XX and for some reason didn't want to pay for it. so here we were, trying to explain to a french lady that wasn't understanding what we were saying, that she had to pay for the added items, even though she was getting the vitamins as pretty much of an even exchange. she finally told us that she didn't understand and that she was just going to take her vitamins, leaving us with a bag full of products and an overring. she got us both frustrated on that one...

'HAIR-Y' LOUD MAN

this guy always comes into the store and he stays for a super long time. he has these really nasty hairy arms that lead up to a nasty hairy back, and the reason we all know this is because the only shirts he wears are sleeveless ones. he comes in, sits down at a chair in the cosmetics department and talks aloud to himself. but he doesn't just talk out loud. he talks loud. really loud. in fact, the first time he came in while i was working, i thought he was pretty scary because he would yell at me. then i eventually realized that he just yells when he talks. sometimes he sings. anyways, he stays there at the cosmetics counter for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, then finally decides that he's going to do some shopping. he's one of "those" shoppers. you know, the ones who get most of their stuff then realize they forgot something so they go to get it and it takes them forever to come back up to the front. anyways, he finally gets everything he needs, then tells me he only has one question. he then goes on to TELL me how he wants me to bag his stuff, in a paper bag then in two plastic bags. NOT A QUESTION!!! so, i do this for him and then somewhere between me telling him to have a good evening and him walking out the door, he decides that he needs two separate bags and goes over to register 2 and attempts to rebag his items, get this... behind the counter. so, he's trying to rebag his stuff when he yells over to me if i have his box of razors. then he remembers (OUT LOUD) that he only brought one with him. then, he asks me if i know how much this book is he bought. i tell him to check his receipt, and he finally sees how much he paid for it and says (again OUT LOUD) that it was pretty expensive and no wonder he thought what he paid was so much. anways, after rearranging his bags for about 20 minutes, he finally leaves, THANK GOD! but he'll be back. you can bet on that.

I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU OUT BUT I DID SOMETHING WRONG SO NOW I'M GOING TO YELL AT YOU GUY

we were extremely busy and register 2 was not in working condition, so i went over to the photo/mailing center register to ring a guy up who was having some keys made. one of the other employees was making his keys, three american flag painted keys, when i turn around and see the guy coming behind the counter to hand the employee another key to make 2 copies of. i tell him that he can't be behind the counter and he rudely tells me that he's trying to help out to make it faster. i put the cord back up and he makes a rude comment like it should be up if we don't want customers behind the counter. well, first of all, you should know that if you're getting a key made, it's going to take awhile, if you're getting more than one key made and it's really busy, it's going to take even longer. so, since there's people waiting after him, i go get his first three keys to ring up. i then ask him if he's getting the same kind of key (a printed fancy one), or a regular one, and he very rudely tells me that no, it can't be the same because it's a different key. according to him, i should've listened to what he said, (even though he said it to the other employee). anyways, so i grab one of the other keys to ring it up and give him his total. he gets upset because i didn't see that he had other stuff. so, i ring that stuff up and by that time i don't even tell him thank you or to have a good day. gosh these people wear you out.

i just don't know what's with all the people who think they have the right to come into our space (i.e. walking behind counters, reaching over the counter to bag their own items, etc.).