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You don't have to be a jerk

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  • You don't have to be a jerk

    Today I was stuck in tools ringing on the register. I had a few interesting encounters with jerks today. It's long so hang tight.

    First. The phone rang at exactly opening and I answered.

    Me: Thank you for calling Sears. My name is--
    SC: I've been calling for ever! Why didn't any pick up?! Don't you answer the phones! I need help!
    Me: ...We open at nine o'clock, sir. It's nine o'clock right now.
    SC: Oh. Well if you've been there, you should have answered the phone anyway!

    Yeah, whatever dude. Actually, I had been there since six AM. I only had two phone calls in tools or lawn and garden and both were ladies asking when we opened. (Yeah, I tend to answer the phones when they ring even we aren't opened.)

    Next. I was helping a sales associate with a ring up since he was new. I see a gentleman walk behind me and didn't realize he went to stand at a register. Because he was behind me. Extra info: I am no longer a regular cashier, so I've forgotten a few things about extended warranties and the like...

    SC: AHEM.
    Me: *still helping co-worker and first customer*
    SC: Excuse me ma'am! I'm ready!
    Me: Oh, I'm sorry sir, I'll be right with you!
    SC: Fine.

    Less than a minute later, I finish helping CW and nice customer and go to the register behind me.

    Me: Sorry about that, sir! Let me get you ringed out.
    SC: *shoves large weedwacker onto the counter*
    Me: *I begin to ring it up and notice that it can come with a replacement agreemet* Oh, sir, would you like to buy the extended warranty for this item?
    SC: Yes! How long does it last?
    Me: I'm not exactly sure. I believe it will be three years Let me ask a sales person.
    SC: You should know! Hurry up and ask!
    Me: Sorry. *I ask CW next to me and he confirms that I was right* Yes, sir, it's for three years.
    SC: Good, give it to me.
    Me: All right. *I total it out and it prompts for phone number* Can I have your phone number?
    SC: *He says his phone number extremely fast*
    Me: *I manage to get the first three in, but not the last four.* Sorry sir, the last four please?
    SC: *sighs and rolls his eyes and then repeats the last four to me like I'm stupid and slow*

    The phone number pulls up a whole damn list of different names. I ask for the last name and he blurts out "Brown!" (not the real last name) and then I ask for the first name.

    SC: Henry, David, whatever the hell you have in that stupid thing! I don't care!
    Me: I'm sorry...your total is 61.91.
    SC: *He THROWS a wadded hundred dollar bill at me.*

    Then he gets upset that I smooth it out and hold it to the light to check that it's real.

    SC: It's REAL. I got it from the damn bank!
    Me: Just double checking for you sir.

    I give him his change and he leaves. WHAT A JERK!

    This is why I hate ringing in tools! People are so damn mean! I don't even know how I end up with all the jerks!

    Last

    Male customer seems lost and I approach him and ask him if he needed help.

    Customer: No, you wouldn't know because you're a girl.

    I hear that so much these days that it doesn't amaze me that there are still men that think like that.

    Me: Fine. *I get a man to help him. Male co-worker didn't hear what customer said to me*

    About five minutes later, the male co-worker comes up with me with the male customer in tow.

    CW: Hey, Rine, can you help me figure out how to find the right battery he needs?
    Me: Oh, sure! *as sickingly cheerful as I could muster. Heh.*

    I help newbie male co-worker find the right battery for the stupid GDO remote he needed and all the while, the male customer would ask questions directly to the male CW, didn't even look at me, and then my CW would have to look at me with a sort of "help?" look and I answer the questions anyhow. The man didn't even thank ME for the help. He thanked the CW.

    I hope that the male customer realized that girls sometimes know about tools and whatnot. It wouldn't have hurt him to at least ask me to see if I knew anything. Sigh.
    Last edited by Rine; 08-23-2007, 01:50 AM.

  • #2
    That last one was a classic case of a guy who's on the verge of extinction-a sexist pig.

    Comment


    • #3
      Quoth Bright_Star View Post
      That last one was a classic case of a guy who's on the verge of extinction-a sexist pig.
      Nah, we only think they're on the verge. They've evolved better camoflaging techniques over the years.
      How was I supposed to know someone was slipping you Birth Control in the food I've been making for you lately?

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      • #4
        Quoth Rine View Post
        I hope that the male customer realized that girls sometimes know about tools and whatnot. It wouldn't have hurt him to at least ask me to see if I knew anything. Sigh.
        I get that, but from the other side. Whenever I go into the electronics dept at our local Sears, I get completely ignored by the sales guys. But, I see them walk up to every man that walks in. Should have seen the look on ones face when I asked him a question about a VCR since it wasn't on the card and I couldn't look a the box! One, he looked dumbfounded to hear that question from a girl and, B, he didn't know the answer. (Hey, my dad was an electronics tech at WSMR for 30 years, I picked up a few things.)
        It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth Rine View Post

          This is why I hate ringing in tools! People are so damn mean! I don't even know how I end up with all the jerks!
          We use to avoid Tools for that very same reason. It use to be an initiation ritual to put newbie cashiers there to see how long they could take it.

          Comment


          • #6
            Quoth Rine View Post
            This is why I hate ringing in tools!
            Shouldn't that be, "This is why I hate ringing out tools"?
            "I call murder on that!"

            Comment


            • #7
              That second guy-what an ass. It would have been hard for me to resist telling him to get the F out of the store until he's capable of acting like a civilized human being.

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth Juwl View Post
                Shouldn't that be, "This is why I hate ringing out tools"?
                No, sorry. I meant it more as..."I hate ringing in the tools department." But I just say "tools" even though I should type it out. Sorry!

                -

                @Neo_Classic...we do the same thing here at my Sears. It's mean, but all the newbie cashiers need to experience the wrath of the tool department at least once. However, lately we haven't enought cashiers for the other four cash wraps. So the noobs are spared from the tools/l&g cash wrap. At least for now. Mwhaha.

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                • #9
                  Quoth Pagan View Post
                  I get that, but from the other side. Whenever I go into the electronics dept at our local Sears, I get completely ignored by the sales guys. But, I see them walk up to every man that walks in.
                  I actually prefer talking to the women who visit my computer department. Most of them that I talk to have a good understanding of how to use computers but do not know much about the insides (though there are exceptions). In contrast to the male customers, women usually listen to what I'm saying to them, weigh their options, and make a choice once they understand what I'm telling them instead of making assumptions and getting mad when they don't get quite what they expected.

                  And that OP guy was a jerk. The annoying part about it is that he caused most of his problems himself (a wadded-up $100 "straight" from the bank... I doubt it) and will never realize it. His world must suck.
                  I suspect that... inside every adult (sometimes not very far inside) is a bratty kid who wants everything his own way.
                  - Bill Watterson

                  My co-workers: They're there when they need me.
                  - IPF

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                  • #10
                    Maybe a clearer way to put it would be "I hate it when I get tools in my line. Sometimes they are even buying screwdrivers and wrenches and such."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Bright_Star View Post
                      That last one was a classic case of a guy who's on the verge of extinction-a sexist pig.
                      Sadly, that is not even close to being true. There are tons of them out there, still. Perhaps not always as OBVIOUS as this turd, but still there.

                      Myself, I know better. My stepsister knows far more about cars than I do. Not that that is tough. RW did the reinstallation I needed on my computer. Why? I sure as hell didn't know what I was doing. And when she talks to my roommates (computer techs by trade) about computers, the three of them might as well be speaking backcountry Mandarin as far as I am concerned. Because I don't have a CLUE what they are saying.

                      On the other side of the coin, I type faster than most humans, male or female, including many secretaries/executive assistants. I AM the son of a secretary, after all. Also cook better than a lot of women I know. Hell, a lot of women I know can't cook if it doesn't have instructions on the box. Some of them, not even then. (I know without question that I cook better than my best friend Neets. She won't argue that point either.)

                      Sexist bullshit is sexist bullshit. Sadly not dying as much as it should be.

                      Anyone else as amazed that I am single as I am?

                      "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
                      Still A Customer."

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Very long post about men who act like they know everything...

                        Quoth HawaiianShirts View Post
                        I actually prefer talking to the women who visit my computer department...In contrast to the male customers, women usually listen to what I'm saying to them, weigh their options, and make a choice once they understand what I'm telling them instead of making assumptions and getting mad when they don't get quite what they expected.
                        I'm hesitant to make generalizations, but I experienced this when I went to college for my electronics engineering diploma (I'm a girl). I only had a working knowledge of computers and was a "blank slate" (to be charitable) with regards to electronics in general. But I was really curious about the fundamentals of technology, so I decided to spend a couple of years learning about it.

                        ***I won't write here about the discrimination I experienced (from both students and PROFESSORS!!); maybe I'll save that for fratching. ***

                        I was SOOO intimidated by my fellow students (all male). They seemed to know so much more than me, and the classes moved by so fast because everyone seemed to grasp concepts as if they were familiar and simple. Almost no one asked questions; if they did, the questions tended to be of the "show off" variety (i.e. "Now I'm going to impress everyone by how smart I am with this fantastically advanced, yet completely irrelevant, question"). And when I asked my friends for help in the labs (the few that were nice to me, till I proved myself to the others), no matter how well-meaning they were, instead of helping me they would kindly do my projects FOR ME rather than try to explain things to a simpleton.

                        Eventually I switched to a specialized program, which meant I would be taking certain classes without having taken the prerequisites. So instead of falling behind I bit the bullet and started asking questions in class to catch up. Tons of questions. About really basic things. And I'd keep asking till I understood, no matter what kind of attitude the prof gave me (some were awesome though, and appreciated the interest in the material).

                        And guess what all the boys would say after class? "Wow, I'm so glad you asked that! I had no idea what was going on in that class!" All of them. I'm not kidding. And when I started taking charge in my labs and figuring stuff out for myself, I began to see that all those guys so busy with their projects that they didn't ask for help...didn't always know what they were doing. They just ACTED LIKE THEY KNEW. And when I went out on co-op with professional crews, the "professionals" acted the exact same way!!

                        My point? I'm like HawaiinShirts in that I really appreciate it when someone comes in with a humble attitude, whether they are male or female. And on the flip side, as a customer I also love it when I approach a specialist for help and they don't act like they're God. Until you are on the inside you don't realize how many people who seem like experts are actually just faking, or worse, are too arrogant to see how LITTLE they know. Even in situations when I am not unskilled, I always approach the tech or sales person with humility, and let them know exactly what my weaknesses are. That way they are in the best position to help me, and tailor their advice exactly to my needs.

                        (Oh, and as an aside...when I graduated college I won the scholarship for the best marks in the entire faculty. And during the last few months of classes, lots of the guys were asking me for help! )
                        But I don't need a vagina. I have a pony.
                        -Gravekeeper

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Guess what

                          Quoth Max View Post
                          And guess what all the boys would say after class? "Wow, I'm so glad you asked that! I had no idea what was going on in that class!" All of them. I'm not kidding. And when I started taking charge in my labs and figuring stuff out for myself, I began to see that all those guys so busy with their projects that they didn't ask for help...didn't always know what they were doing. They just ACTED LIKE THEY KNEW. And when I went out on co-op with professional crews, the "professionals" acted the exact same way!!
                          I am a guy (i hope otherwise my girlfriend is in for a surprise) but I DID ask questions in school, I ask question at training sessions when I became a computer tech, I ask question when I go to presentations at computer shows. And what you say is common everywhere. No matter what their age tons of people are scared of looking dumber that others so they don't ask, result THEY REALLY DO STAY DUMB.

                          Equally as important I had a number of teachers and presentators thank me for asking, because sometimes getting the ball rolling is the hardest part. Once someone has asked a question then others feel they will not look so bad if they ask. But none want to ask the first one!

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                          • #14
                            I work in an industry that had been male dominated. . .that is slowly turning.

                            Som American Citizens have been raised in cultures with certain taboos. Like talking to a female(without being married to them) . . .even if she is a store clerk . . .due to their culture they do the best they can to be true to themselves and be a part of the world around them. (and this isn't something that you can tell just by looking at the person other than to note gender)

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                            • #15
                              Wow, that 2nd guy was a total jerk! You were a lot nicer to him than I would have been.
                              "500 bucks, that's almost a million!"
                              ~Curly from the 3 Stooges

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