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.
