Sunday, September 26, 2010

I hate retail.

More specifically, I hate used retail.

I work in a relatively big-name thrift store, that deals with all manner of used merchandise. About 70% of that is clothing, the rest split up between knicknacks, kitchen/bath accessories and toys.

Now, right off the bat, I don't hate thrift stores. I think they're an excellent idea- a place where people who have little to no cash can come and get things for 50%-80% off retail price (if you don't mind the fact that it's been worn/used/manhandled)? Excellent!

It's just unforunate that some of those people are the rudest, most disgusting, inconsiderate people in the world. Oh, sure, there's the occasional nice person. But honestly, it's really a 1 in 100 chance of seeing them. Instead, I get the people who rip tags off of things in front of me, and claim that it had no tag. Or, the people that scratch/dent/bang/rip/tear/stain items and then try to get a discount on them.
These are the people who yell and berate me right after I tell them no.

Every day, I think I've seen everything.

There was the day when one older gentleman (read: senile) just couldn't seem to control his bowels. Now, I'm not one to joke about IBS, as Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects so many lives, but when you're IN the bathroom and you're NEAR the toilet, must you shit on the floor, and the wall? Really?

Nobody can forget the guy who came in with a sportsbag, loaded it up with clothing and shit, and then made a mad dash for the front door, leaping on his bicycle and pedaling like there was no tomorrow (Dude, honestly, that was like $15 worth of stuff. Let the good times roll.).

Just recently we had someone ram their car into the sign outside of our donation room. The sign is right next to the door, and the guy made an extremely wide turn and nailed it.
Then burned rubber out of our parking lot.
Sad thing is, he's a regular and will probably be back next week.

If it were just the weirdos every once in a while,  I could deal with that- after all, variety is the spice of life, right? I'd have less blog fodder if I worked a nice, normal retail job.
It's the inconsiderateness.

I know I work in a thrift store. You don't have to remind me by shouting at me about how crappy the stuff looks, or saying, "Is this stuff USED?" and then throwing it on the floor when I say it is. We're not Macy's. That should be printed on our advertisements.
People seem to think that because our stuff is used, it's an excuse to treat everything like shit. People look at things, and drop them on the floor.

That dude in Men's Jeans you saw five minutes ago?
Yeah, he's torn down half of the rack and left it on the floor.

I WISH I was exaggerating.
We close at 9pm on weekdays and 6pm on weekends. On average, we don't get out of the store until 10pm/7pm most nights because of the sheer volume of cleaning we have to do.

I mean, don't get me wrong. Some days are better than others, and some days I do see really nice, really respectful customers.

It just saddens me that those days are like Christmas, with how little they seem to come around.
If I were a little more inclined, I would get up off my ass and try and change things,
but yet, here I sit.

14 comments:

  1. I work in a warehouse. I'm happy there because I spend enough time on a computer in my free time and would hate an office environment. I used to work at universal studios Hollywood. Being nice to the biggest assholes is just horrible, but hang in there, bro.

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  2. God man, that sounds awful. I've been trying to land a job for months, too. Primarily retail. I think I may need drugs to handle it now though...

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  3. I thought my job was bad... I don't even know if I could fully empathize with you on this, man. Seriously.

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  4. I never understand why customers treat employees like that. I've never felt the urge to make a mess/be rude to the people working at a business even if they're rude to me in the first place.

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  5. I've heard of some bad retail stories. Sounds like it would be more trouble than its worth.

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  6. Ugh, I've worked retail too. It's the worst during holidays because people are so jazzed up and they'll fight each other for stuff and trample each other. The first day I ever worked retail was Black Friday, can you say thrown into the deep end? I almost got bit by this woman who couldn't find a video game for her kids. Anyway, you have my sympathy and I hope you write more like this because I like your style and voice already.

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  7. My retail jobs have always sucked, except for working at a privately owned video game store at a slow moving mall...to this day that has been my favorite job

    i make it a point to be as nice as possible to anyone working retail because i know how shitty customers can be

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  8. Nice blog bro!
    Followin n supportin :)
    Check my blog!

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  9. I work voluntarily in a charity shop so I know the pains of some of the stuff you we're talking about. The amount of things I've seen people steal, and most of the things in the shop are around £3.

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  10. Wow I worked at a large retail clothing store, and even there, fitting rooms were stacked up WAIST high full of clothes people just throw around. They treat you like dirt, like you are their servants. Ive had people just go straight to their dressing room and command me to BRING them clothes. And then get mad at me if I pick something they don't like. Really?

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  11. Clothing retail is soul crushing, but this sounds even more soul crushing than the normal variety. I commend your patience bro.

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  12. Supportin :D
    Cool post bro!

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  13. i agree, i've seen my fair share of such rude people there.

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