Things to NOT do at my store

[Jack7957]

And you dirty construction workers and drywallers and other blue collar men.......DO NOT come here after work without showering, or don't get offended if I wear a gas mask in your presence or cover my nose. You are covered in dirt, filth, sweat, and other dirty tidbits. You SMELL! GO AWAY! All of you (despite living in Skid Row surrounded in your own filth I'm assuming) would throw a major fit and complain to my manager if I smelled less than normal while serving you, show me the same respect. I realize you don't need to look your best everywhere you go, especially after work, but have a little respect for your fellow man who doesn't want to see or smell your filth.

I'm a little offended here as a blue collar worker. After work, I just want to make my one or two stops so I don't have to go back out again after getting home and cleaning up. I know I smell, or look dirty, or both. If it wasn't for the work I do, your older relative with dementia and/or alzheimers might end up getting out of the home and lost. Or your newborn could be abducted from the hospital.

[Ree]

I'm a little offended here as a blue collar worker. After work, I just want to make my one or two stops so I don't have to go back out again after getting home and cleaning up.

Good point, Jack.

Yeah, it's not pleasant, but these guys work darn hard all day, and as Jack said, it's pretty hard to get by in this world without the work they do, so why begrudge them a stop on the way home, even if they are a little dirty and smelly?

I realize your situation is slightly unique, blas, in that you live and work in a less affluent part of town, and hygiene isn't exactly a priority with these men, but let's watch the generalizations.

[jayel]

I'm with Jack7957 and Ree here. I used to hate construction workers. Loud, obnoxious, smelly, dirty. And then I started doing construction work with my husband. (He's a crane operator, so he doesn't really fall into any of the above descriptions. Stays pretty clean in his rig.) Anyway, after seeing what these guys go through on any given day- waking up at 5 or earlier, working 12 hour shifts, outdoors, in the scorching heat, freezing cold, or pouring rain- I am more sympathetic. Most of them don't like what they do, but it's what they have to do to make a living. No other industry pays as well for manual labor with little or no education. They are paid for working in some pretty bad conditions. It's exhausting mentally and physically, and sometimes you need a release from a long shift and a hard day. Now I don't mind so much when they get loud and cut up a bit, as long as they are respectful. As for the dirt and the smell, they are probably not proud of it, but like Ree said, at the end of a 12 hour day, you just want to go home, get cleaned up and go to bed. If you need something on the way home, you stop for it because you're not getting back out after a shower. You have to get to sleep so you can get up and do it all over again tomorrow.

jayel, saying pennance for all the horrible things I used to think about construction workers that I feel bad for now that I know some of them as real people.

[GayleShy]

I agree with the above posts. These people have obviously just come off work and are probably thirsty, hungry, tired or all three. They have an excuse for looking the way they do, and, as long as they are not sucky about shopping there, have a right to be treated the same as people who have just gotten off cleaner jobs.

That being said, there is no excuse for coming into a store without showering, brushing your teeth and wearing clothes that can stand up by themselves just because you were too dang lazy to do those things when you woke up this morning. People CAN tell the difference between hard work dirt and just too lazy to care dirt. Also, the ones who are too lazy to care normally have worse BO, because it's never washed off.

[mrsjfreak]

I agree that those comments are a little rude. I mean, how would you feel if someone griped at you for coming in a store because you were thirsty after being outside on a 90 degree day for 12 hours straight? Sometimes without a break. I used to do farm work, I know not as hard as construction, but after a long 12 hour day in the hay fields, I liked the convienence (sp??) of stopping into a gas station for a bottle of soda or Gatorade so I had something to cool off. Smelling like a barn isn't the most pleasant thing in the world. I didn't like to go out in public smelling like that, but you do what you have to do so that you don't pass out. And what about those people coming home from work and they need gas? You just want them to continue on with their journey because they smell from a long day of work and have them run out of gas because you feel that they're tainting your nose for 2 minutes? How fair is that?

[AFpheonix]

I don't mind construction guy or mechanic smell, lord knows, sometimes after a few hours at the barn I'm pretty ripe too.
I DO mind piddle and old cigarette stink, though. Bleah. Oh, and the smell of 1,000 cats living in one small house, who's litter box is entirely too close to your clothing smell.

That being said:
1) Could you please be bothered to take your cart back up to the front of the store after you've been rung out? Seriously, the cart rack-thingy is on your way out the door. Otherwise, it's blocking my tills and chances are I won't get a chance to deal with it until the end of my shift.

2)Don't park in my drivethru. Yes, I'll tell you to pull around or go away, no, I don't care if you take your business elsewhere.

3) Don't expect me to know what your insurance is. Bring your friggan card with you.

4) No whining! I said it would take me 20 minutes, and that's being optimistic.

5) Have you considered talking to the advice nurse about whatever it is that's ailing your small child? Please don't call us, we're not doctors.

[bean]

If I'm helping another customer, don't cut in front of someone. Yes, I did see you do it, and believe me I'll make it blatently obvious that I'm helping whoever you cut off first.

If I'm elbows deep in my 600 degree oven trying to pull a pizza out, don't shout "HEY!". I've burned the living crap out of my arms from that and wound up with almost third degree burns on my arms. Yes, I WILL make a huge show out of calling a coworker over and telling them quite loudly "I just got some bad burns when this customer startled me, and I'm going to the hospital. Can you help this guy?"

There's a sign posted in front of EVERYTHING stating what it is with large type. In addition, all of our buffet pizzas have the toppings on top of the cheese so that you can clearly see what they are. If you point at something and go "What's that?", don't be surprised when I respond with "A pizza" or pick up the sign myself to read it. If you can see it well enough to damn near put your hand on top of it, you should be able to read the 30 point type. Yes, I'm a jerk. If I see someone squinting to read the sign, then I'm not a jerk, but I do this when people make a show out of not looking at the signs.

On the same note, STOP REACHING OVER THE GLASS TO POINT AT WHAT YOU WANT!!!! I'm technically supposed to throw away EVERYTHING on my counter when someone does that. Don't be surprised when I give you the look of death when you do that. Also on the same note, please keep your children from poking their fingers under the glass trying to touch the food on my counter. There's a reason there's a huge sheet of glass. If it were up to me I would set the glass so that there was no gap whatsoever between the food surface and glass.

If you ask "What's in the oven?", I'll generally respond with "a couple of pizzas". Again, I'm a jerk. If you're asking this during peak time, most likely everything in that oven is customer orders anyway. When you see me pulling a customer order out of the order and putting it in a box with somebody's name on it, don't get pissed if I refuse to sell you a slice of it - that's why it was a customer order, and that's why I told you 3 times already "It's a customer order for *points to name* Adam".

I don't mind making small talk, but after I'm done helping you, kindly bugger off so I can help the 10 people waiting for you to move. And don't f***ing preach to me about Jesus. I'm an atheist, and I'll tell you as much if you preach. (I live in the bible belt, ugh)

Please make up your mind before you clog up the queue. I don't want you standing in front of my window for a solid 5 minutes while customers are getting pissed off behind you, while you hem and haw. You can easily read the menu and see what I have today from the side. Yes, if you do this during peak times I WILL tell you "Just let me know when you've decided" and go on to help everyone else in line.

If there's 2+ people working my particular station, one of them is dedicated solely to cooking. If you see a huge line, with one person taking orders and another one busting his ass trying to keep up with everything, don't walk up to the cook and go "HAI I WANNA ORDER SOMETHING". Get in the line like everybody else. And I'm going to tell you "I'm sorry, but X coworker is handling orders, I have nothing to write with. He'll be glad to take your order if you get in line."

My biggest rant is when someone orders something shortly before my break. I get the order made, and get X coworker to cover my counter while I'm eating lunch. Do NOT track me down in the cafe and demand to know why I'm not working on your order. (a) I already finished it and paged you twice 15 minutes ago; (b) there's someone AT the counter who can get your order for you. I have the slight advantage of being able to wear whatever I want to work, since I just put a chef's coat on once I'm there. If I'm on break, the hat and chef's coat come off and stay under the counter, and I keep my long hair tucked under the hat while working anyway. So thankfully this doesn't happen often. The only time it does is if someone pays attention to the piercings and recognizes them on me out of uniform and with my hair down.

[Maximillion]

And my rant continues:

Drive-Thru

~I don't mind you taking a minute or so to scan the menu. There's a lot of stuff on there and the font is a little smaller than it could be but please don't spend an eternity to decide and even more time to tell me you want a Whopper with cheese. People like you are the reason why I now have a short temper.

~When a car comes in DT we hear a loud "dong" noise on our headsets and we also have a camera so most of the time we see you. I try my best to greet customers right when I hear that annoying sound. I think you can wait half a milisecond while I take a quick breath before saying "Welcome to Burger King, how may I help you?" Also, after I greet you the first time, let me know then if you need some time to look over the menu so I know you at least heard me. Don't catch a tude after the second try and yell "HOLD ON!" I don't tolerate that.

~We have a screen outside near the speaker that tells you what you ordered as it is being rung up. The only problem is that some of the stuff looks out of place due to it being struck by lightening a few years back. I've asked management to look at it but they don't want to listen to me...But when I tell you that your total is a certain price, that's the damn price. Don't give me that "Well the sign says blahblahblah" bullshit. I don't give two shits what that sign says. If the sign told you to drive into a pole, would you do it? It isn't a trick question.


~SPEAK UP! I bet you could speak louder if your order was messed up. There'd be a definate change in volume.

~That being said, if you're driving a pickup truck or any vehicle that's louder than you, please have the decency to turn it off until your order's finished. I choose not to compete with your vehicle for loudness.

~Don't cuss at me...I don't think you want to feel the wrath of Webster and myself. I'll smite thee with the curse of advanced vovabulary without being written up. BEGONE! In the end I'll be laughing my ass off while you drive away feeling like America's Next Top Dumbass.

I might have more later...my brain went mute...

[mrsjfreak]

More to add to my list:

** Don't sneak into my store so quietly and scare the hell out of me, and then bitch at me that I "should be paying attention". There are so many different things to do in the store than just deal with customers. Product rotation, sweep/mop the floor, dust, clean shelves...etc. And if I'm up on a ladder with my hands full, don't expect me to just jump right down and assist you. I'm afraid of heights as it is, so being on a ladder with you trying to get me to jump off it isn't exactly on my priority list.

** Don't yell at me because we don't have (insert product name). We only get stock every 2 weeks, not my fault

[justZu]

Don't complain to me that I am ripping you off when you pay 6 dollars for a bottle of beer. I don't set the prices. The people who DO set the prices have probably never worked behind a counter in their lives.

Don't walk away telling me you will go to a cheaper stand - DUH - our prices are all the same.

Don't pitch a fit when I can only sell you two beers. It is ballpark policy AND it is on the biga$$ sign you neglected to read.

Don't try to finagle me into selling you more than two beers - it ain't happening. For some reason I have the worst problems with this rule and young off-duty cops. They inevitably pull the "C'mon, you can do it for me, I'm a cop" card. I reply with the outraged Mom card "Oh! Shame on you! You should know better than to ask me to break a law!" Something about the phrase "shame on you" along with a stern mom face seems to shut them right up.

Don't come up to my stand and wave vaguely at the row of taps and ask for a beer. When asked which one don't reply "domestic". If you actually looked at the taps you would see that they are all domestic. When I point this out, don't roll your eyes at me like I am annoying. Just pick a d@mn beer already.

Don't blame me if I sell out of a certain beer - I swear I would've saved you one if I was psychic. Oh, no I wouldn't because if I WAS psychic I would win the lottery and not sell beer to SC's.

[Mike Taylor]

I think Rapscallion actually had a "Customer Do's and Don'ts" over on the main board at one time. It may have evaporated in the storm of board hacks, though.

My DON'Ts are this.

1. DON'T resort to name-calling if we don't have the game console you want in stock. Calling me and my coworker bastards won't make it magically appear. Furthermore, we don't have control over when they show up and how many we get, that's handled by corporate AND the manufacturer. Call Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft and yell at them.

2. DON'T try to return a product outside the standard 30 day period and expect us to replace it if you haven't bought the product replacement plan from us. If its still under warranty from the maker-- SHIP IT TO THEM LIKE THE OWNER'S MANUAL TELLS YOU TO!

3. DON'T get pissed off if I won't let you in the store before or after business hours to take care of your "urgent" problem (most aren't). Bad planning on your part is not an impetus for me to risk a potential security problem on my part.

4. DON'T steal. Believe me, a $4.99 video game is not worth the jail time and several thousand dollars in legal fees you WILL get when we catch you.

5. DON'T let your children wander out of your sight. There are 300+ sex offenders that live in the county and I can't watch everybody in the store. Not even a "Code ADAM" lockdown will guarantee we can get your child back to you.

[upsidedown_orchid]

At the theatre:

If you have something come up at the last minute and you can't make it to your show that night, I am happy to exchange your tickets without our required 7 days notice. Don't complain about the $20.00 per person late fee. It is more than fair. I don't care if you're a season ticket holder. The exchange policy is written on the tickets, it's on the letter we send out with the tickets, it's in all the show programs and we tell you what the policy is when you buy season tickets. Not my fault if you don't read the information we give you.

If I tell you a date is sold out, don't ask me "Are you sure?". I am sure.

If I tell you the best available seats are 'X', don't ask me if we have something better. We don't. And yes, I'm sure.

[Rapscallion]

I think Rapscallion actually had a "Customer Do's and Don'ts" over on the main board at one time. It may have evaporated in the storm of board hacks, though.

May have been a previous incarnation of the board, or it could have been on the front pages when Mr Slugger was running things.

As to hacks, we had another attempted one the other day, but it's dealt with and patched. GBM and I are keeping an eye on it.

Rapscallion

[Gurndigarn]

2) Do not play Tekken like you're a squirrel on espresso. I just replaced those joysticks with brand new ones. Yes, I will yell at you for that. Do you want to pay for the 80 dollar joystick you just broke? I thought not.

Unless you're using electronic joysticks, they're under 15 bucks each. Doesn't mean it's a nuisance to replace them, though. I had one regular (who I think ended up managing one of our stores later) who I would regularly have to retighten the bolts every time he played. I finally ended up getting nylnuts for the bolts, which slowed down the destruction a bit.

[Kitten in the box]

10. Do not just stare at me as if you never saw another human before...come and make contact if you need something.

09. Do not just come in and ask where something is without trying to LOOK for it first.

08. If you need to relieve yourself make sure you at least get it in the toilet. Im sure your mother potty trained you right? Make her proud and get it in the potty like a big boy/girl.

07. Do NOT put $500.00 worth of items in your cart and then decide you only want $5.00 worth of product...its a waste of MY time

06. I am NOT a map so there for I DO NOT know or care where so and so is.

05. Don't pull me aside and show me how someone spilled something outside (like bread) we have birds outside and they will clean it up.

04. Please do not ask me stupid questions.

03. Do not bug me on break, lunch, before work, after work you will get NO response

02. Do not complain about the prices to me. Talk with a checker for I do not care about the prices.

01. I do not need to know your personal life or what kind of surgery was needed to remove a tumor on your butt....I do not care and it is not my business.