Petty theft, child endangerment, and twerking

[Smapti]

In other words, a typical Monday at the Store. (I'm exaggerating, but not by much.) It wasn't even a very busy day today - it's past the 10th and the second Sunday of the month is behind us, which means that the dreaded "first of the month" is over and now we settle into a couple weeks of steady sales before next month's round of insanity begins. Somehow, though, we managed to have a seemingly unending stream of weird SC encounters today.

The highlights:

* I had to help Mr. Wayne dig through our dairy racks, because they'd watched a man on camera pick an individual-size bottle of chocolate milk off the shelf, chug it, then put it back into the display door. They busted him at the door and the 98 cents he didn't feel like paying turned into a $200 fine and a lifetime ban from all our locations. (We don't usually trespass for small thefts, but it was just so brazen that Wayne wanted to make an exception.)

* We had to fill out an injury statement after a customer bought a bunch of Little Debbie mini-donuts, ate four packages of them all at once, and then threw up in the parking lot.

* At around 9 PM I had to help an elderly woman get her groceries to her car, and when I went outside there was a boy who looked to be about 10 years old, selling fundraiser candy bars, completely unsupervised. We have a strict no solicitation policy and I told him he couldn't sell them there, and he said he'd go back to his parents' car - and proceeded to run more than halfway across the parking lot to it, where they were in no position to be watching their small child after dark in a high-crime area.

* I got called to the customer service desk by a woman who was screaming bloody murder that the price-per-pound for the turkey at the deli counter was less than what was on the sticker and the deli clerks were trying to rip her off. I had a floor clerk check out and it turned out the price tag was wrong, so I told her I'd give it to her at the lower price - and she then proceeded to insist that I re-weigh it, show her the weight of an empty bag so she knew she wasn't being charged for the bag, and give her two copies of her receipt. The price difference between what she would've paid and what she ended up paying? Two cents.

* A customer with no discernible accent asked me if we sold "paszh". I asked him to repeat that and he said "paszh" again, same weird Eastern-European-sounding pronunciation. I told him I'd never heard of that and he seemed shocked that we wouldn't sell paszh. I tried asking him what kind of food it is, and he responded "You know, paszh? Like apple paszh, cherry paszh, pumpkin paszh..."

* Mr. Wayne busted another woman who'd tried to steal about $4 of makeup. They had to confirm her identity and she said her ID was in the car, so I had to walk out to her car with Wayne so he could retrieve it and I could verify he wasn't doing anything untoward to her possessions. When we get to her car, her friend is packing up the groceries that she paid for, and has her toddler sitting in the seat of the shopping cart. In a parking lot that stands at an angle. With the wheels pointing directly downhill. And her back turned. The cart started rolling downhill just as we were approaching, and Wayne took off like a lightning bolt and caught the cart before it hit either a moving vehicle or the fence between our lot and the interstate. The child was unhurt - it's a good thing we came out there when we did, because she wouldn't have noticed on her own in time to do anything.

* I personally observed a 30-something woman twerking in our dairy aisle, with her two young children right next to her. No. Just no.

What was your day like?

[Sliceanddice]

hey i may or may not have sang weird songs with meiei while shopping, sometimes you just got to make chores more fun

[An Haddock]

To be fair - that chocolate milk was delicious.

[wolfie]

Does Mr. Wayne have a secret identity that wields a Lousville Slugger - Baseball Bat Man?

[eltf177]

* I had to help Mr. Wayne dig through our dairy racks, because they'd watched a man on camera pick an individual-size bottle of chocolate milk off the shelf, chug it, then put it back into the display door. They busted him at the door and the 98 cents he didn't feel like paying turned into a $200 fine and a lifetime ban from all our locations. (We don't usually trespass for small thefts, but it was just so brazen that Wayne wanted to make an exception.)

Hopefully this example will inspire others to behave themselves...

* We had to fill out an injury statement after a customer bought a bunch of Little Debbie mini-donuts, ate four packages of them all at once, and then threw up in the parking lot.

And this was your store's fault how?

* At around 9 PM I had to help an elderly woman get her groceries to her car, and when I went outside there was a boy who looked to be about 10 years old, selling fundraiser candy bars, completely unsupervised. We have a strict no solicitation policy and I told him he couldn't sell them there, and he said he'd go back to his parents' car - and proceeded to run more than halfway across the parking lot to it, where they were in no position to be watching their small child after dark in a high-crime area.

This could have ended up in tragedy, when will parents learn?

[CyberLurch]

And this was your store's fault how?

I don't think it implied fault, but in this 'lawyers and insurance companies run everything' age, it's best to document what the customer did to make themselves sick so that four months from now, that person can't come back and make some ridiculous claim demanding truckloads of money.

[rvdammit]

I don't think it implied fault, but in this 'lawyers and insurance companies run everything' age, it's best to document what the customer did to make themselves sick so that four months from now, that person can't come back and make some ridiculous claim demanding truckloads of money.

IANAL disclaimer here. I think Health and Safety law includes provisions that a company has to record any and all accidents and injuries that occur on their property.

[scruff]

IANAL disclaimer here. I think Health and Safety law includes provisions that a company has to record any and all accidents and injuries that occur on their property.

I expect you are right. When I was the official office first-aider, the company rule was any first-aid assistance I provided HAD to be written down in the accident book.
This meant any bashful colleague turning up asking for a plaster got asked if they need me to put it on, and if so, remember it'll get written down in the book...

Usually resulted in them swearing that they didn't actually need a plaster and that I could go back to my computer, so I turned back to the monitor and pointedly ignored them trying to stealthily open the first-aid kit behind me. (Many papercuts and occasional razor cuts occurred, people don't want that written down!) Pretty much the only time I did have to write in the book was after tending to a chap who had been chased down a corridor by a door blown off its hinges.

[wolfie]

Don't keep us in suspense - that door story sounds interesting.

[Terza]

I expect you are right. When I was the official office first-aider, the company rule was any first-aid assistance I provided HAD to be written down in the accident book.
This meant any bashful colleague turning up asking for a plaster got asked if they need me to put it on, and if so, remember it'll get written down in the book...

Usually resulted in them swearing that they didn't actually need a plaster and that I could go back to my computer, so I turned back to the monitor and pointedly ignored them trying to stealthily open the first-aid kit behind me. (Many papercuts and occasional razor cuts occurred, people don't want that written down!) Pretty much the only time I did have to write in the book was after tending to a chap who had been chased down a corridor by a door blown off its hinges.

At one point, our accident book was a handful of printer paper pages on a bulldog clip, and 3/4 of it was me, with plasters for paper/cardboard cuts. As shelf-stocker/night shift, I have now given up on the accident book, and supply my own plasters, since I don't think I've gone more than 3 shifts in a row without injuring myself on the boxes!!

[Sparklyturtle]

When I worked in the hospital record section, our version of the accident book had some rather strange things in it, like the time one of my co-workers had a medical chart fall on her head. She ended up with a paper cut on one of her corneas, so she went to the emergency room, and the sergeant in charge had to write the situation up and what we would do in the future to avoid this happening again. "I didn't know it could happen in the first place!" He told me. This particular co-worker was a good worker and wasn't particularly accident-prone, so it was just one of those freak accidents that happens every once in a while.

[Ironclad Alibi]

The following videos demonstrate the dangers of working in an office. Pay close attention to the events in the background. It will take several viewings on each one.

Stationary is Bad - Rubber Band

Stationary is Bad - Paper Cut

Stationary is Bad - Bad Pen

[evilhomer]

* Mr. Wayne busted another woman who'd tried to steal about $4 of makeup. They had to confirm her identity and she said her ID was in the car, so I had to walk out to her car with Wayne so he could retrieve it and I could verify he wasn't doing anything untoward to her possessions. When we get to her car, her friend is packing up the groceries that she paid for, and has her toddler sitting in the seat of the shopping cart. In a parking lot that stands at an angle. With the wheels pointing directly downhill. And her back turned. The cart started rolling downhill just as we were approaching, and Wayne took off like a lightning bolt and caught the cart before it hit either a moving vehicle or the fence between our lot and the interstate. The child was unhurt - it's a good thing we came out there when we did, because she wouldn't have noticed on her own in time to do anything.

Usually I'm more of an advocate for personal responsibility but your store should really do something about that slope, at least warning signs or something. Brain farts and distractions happen all the time. This time the tragedy was averted, but things might not be so lucky next time.

I expect you are right. When I was the official office first-aider, the company rule was any first-aid assistance I provided HAD to be written down in the accident book.
This meant any bashful colleague turning up asking for a plaster got asked if they need me to put it on, and if so, remember it'll get written down in the book....

I took a health and safety course, the instructor told us a story of a place he was inspecting. He checked out the First Aid log book, and saw these entries:
Name: Bart Simpson, Supplies used: band aid, Reason: attacked by ninjas
Name: Homer Simpson, Supplies used: band aid, Reason: attack by ninjas

about a half dozen entries like this. He brought it up and everybody had a good laugh, then he asked if anybody sees a problem with this. Well it's just a log book, it's just band aids, it's just somebody having some fun. Yes, Yes, and yes, and it's a violation, he can give a fail on that alone, but more importantly, the company wasn't covering something as simple as a log book, now he's got to dig extra deep to see what else they are doing wrong.

These things may seem trivial and unnecessary, but rules are rules; they have to be followed or it leads to bigger problems elsewhere.

[Kit-Ginevra]

It's just someone having some fun to you,but to the victims of those ninja attacks,it was very serious....

[Cia]

Convincing the techs that "Yes, you need to send off the First Report of Accident to the State for anything involving running to the ER or Indian Hospital" makes me bonk my head against the wall.

'A chandelier ate the tech' was a fun one especially when that particular tech is on blood thinners.