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Right, so after being intensely questioned by a rep at one of our other locations, I've come to realise that a lot of what happens at my store is considered intensely unbelievable by those that haven't worked there. There's a good reason for this though: my store is in an intensely shitty area.
Let me explain: our stores have an unofficial rating system that tells you what sort of area you're in. Runs on a traffic light system.
Green: Fairly normal suburban area. Some drunk soccer mums and angry tradies. A few thefts, but not too bad all together.
Yellow: Watch out, lot of sketchy people hanging around. Expect some trouble after dark and keep an eye on the small expensive things in the tool department.
Red: High volume of theft and scammers, known drug issues in the area. Spray paint and solvents have to be kept locked up and security guards do random patrols of the store. Expect a robbery.
Guess what? My store's a Red store. One of the worst in my state too. It's next door to a high school, borders an industrial area and is blocks away from a major shopping complex. You EXPECT to see some outlandish stuff here in the same way you expect to see meth-heads at our local train station. It's not nice, but it's there. It's just the way this suburb is. You don't walk around after dark. You don't hang around the local pubs, because the feral folk are all over them. The dealers houses are the ones with the tin foil windows, and if you hear sirens, it means some dickhead just robbed the local liquor store or petrol station - again.
And if you work in the local big box hardware store, beware of anyone doing the following, and be sure to save their receipts for management:
-Buying a suspiciously large volume of pool chemicals/herbicides and fertilisers.
-Buying rope, tape, hammers, saws/blades and bleach/brick and cement cleaner. Yes, there was a murder we know about where the weapons and cleanup were bought at our store. We have a board upstairs that keeps track of all the things bought with us that were used in violent crimes. My sales number is on a few. First time you see that you feel bloody awful.
-Anyone buying solvents.
-Always paying in cash.
-Staring at cameras or paying a great deal of attention to where they're located.
-Hanging around one particular staff member, or has started paying a weird amount of attention to that staff member.
-Drives around the car park after close time after dark.
Basically, it gets on my nerves when people from our other locations start doing the "but how bad can your store be, lol, nah you're exaggerating" routine, because holy shit people, I may one day end up selling a murder weapon to someone. I sell chemicals to people I know are abusing them. Don't tell me my area's not that bad, because I live nearby. I know EXACTLY how bad it is.
Let me explain: our stores have an unofficial rating system that tells you what sort of area you're in. Runs on a traffic light system.
Green: Fairly normal suburban area. Some drunk soccer mums and angry tradies. A few thefts, but not too bad all together.
Yellow: Watch out, lot of sketchy people hanging around. Expect some trouble after dark and keep an eye on the small expensive things in the tool department.
Red: High volume of theft and scammers, known drug issues in the area. Spray paint and solvents have to be kept locked up and security guards do random patrols of the store. Expect a robbery.
Guess what? My store's a Red store. One of the worst in my state too. It's next door to a high school, borders an industrial area and is blocks away from a major shopping complex. You EXPECT to see some outlandish stuff here in the same way you expect to see meth-heads at our local train station. It's not nice, but it's there. It's just the way this suburb is. You don't walk around after dark. You don't hang around the local pubs, because the feral folk are all over them. The dealers houses are the ones with the tin foil windows, and if you hear sirens, it means some dickhead just robbed the local liquor store or petrol station - again.
And if you work in the local big box hardware store, beware of anyone doing the following, and be sure to save their receipts for management:
-Buying a suspiciously large volume of pool chemicals/herbicides and fertilisers.
-Buying rope, tape, hammers, saws/blades and bleach/brick and cement cleaner. Yes, there was a murder we know about where the weapons and cleanup were bought at our store. We have a board upstairs that keeps track of all the things bought with us that were used in violent crimes. My sales number is on a few. First time you see that you feel bloody awful.
-Anyone buying solvents.
-Always paying in cash.
-Staring at cameras or paying a great deal of attention to where they're located.
-Hanging around one particular staff member, or has started paying a weird amount of attention to that staff member.
-Drives around the car park after close time after dark.
Basically, it gets on my nerves when people from our other locations start doing the "but how bad can your store be, lol, nah you're exaggerating" routine, because holy shit people, I may one day end up selling a murder weapon to someone. I sell chemicals to people I know are abusing them. Don't tell me my area's not that bad, because I live nearby. I know EXACTLY how bad it is.
Don't beat yourself up over that. How could you possibly have known what was going to happen? For all you know, you're selling to a high-volume construction company.
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