If you can't reach an item on a tall shelf...

[cinema guy]

I used to be the one who crawled under desks to get at computer cables, cos I am pretty small.

I have stood on the bumper bar along the bottom of shelving so that I can reach the top shelf.

[hecubus]

Since I use a wheelchair, I come in at about 4'8" or so, but I have really long arms, so reaching most things is not a problem. If there is something out of my reach, and I can;t find an employee and there's no tall person in the area, I've gotten pretty good at taking off one of my footrests and knocking things off the shelf and catching them. Of course, I only do this with non-breakable items.

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

Just a note:

While we tall people are generally glad to offer assistance to the "less vertically enabled " among us, there's a rather unfair double standard there. I highly doubt we'd get as cheerful a reaction if we were to ask someone who was about 4'10" to pass us something stuck at the back of the bottom shelf where we have trouble reaching.

get a cane and a grey wig


really though, people climbing on shelves are more likely to hurt themselves then a tall person squatting down. I'm of average height so I can reach the top, and also reach the bottom easily

[hecubus]

Just a note:

While we tall people are generally glad to offer assistance to the "less vertically enabled " among us, there's a rather unfair double standard there. I highly doubt we'd get as cheerful a reaction if we were to ask someone who was about 4'10" to pass us something stuck at the back of the bottom shelf where we have trouble reaching.

You would from me. I mean, if I expect tall people to help me out when I ask, I should be just as willing to help them out if they ask.

[crazylegs]

I have stood on the bumper bar along the bottom of shelving so that I can reach the top shelf.

Sooo not a good idea, the shelves are generally held onto the support arms by gravity alone no screws or anything so if you tread on a bad shelf you *will* tip it and you *will* hurt yourself.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I used to be the one who crawled under desks to get at computer cables, cos I am pretty small.

When I was a kid I was always the one who got to crawl into the bushes to get the lost soccer ball or whatever. I was the smallest kid in my class until 4th grade; then someone shorter moved to town. I didn't really catch up to my classmates until about 6-7th grade.

Now I'm 5'4"; I have on occasion been asked to get something from a top shelf in the grocery store. I don't mind at all. I have to do it for my mom all the time when we go shopping, anyway (she's 3 inches shorter than me).

In Store2, most of the fiction section is 7 shelves tall (most sections are only 6; or 5 in a few where the books are too big for normal spacing). This includes the romance section. Most romance readers are women. The shelves in that store are metal, with prongs in the back that hook into a track in the bookcase. If you stand on the shelf, it will not only bend the shelf (some of them have a distinct bend in the middle), it will also damage the slot in the track. Which means that replacing the shelf does no good. There are a few shelves in that section (all the second from the bottom) that cannot have books faced out on them because they will just fall off. The worst part of it all is the fact that there are step stools scattered around the store and especially in that area because of the taller cases. (Unfortunately people like to use them as chairs.) There are also a few wooden chairs near the windows right there that can be dragged over in a pinch. (I actually used to stand on a chair when I was zoning the top shelves because it was more comfortable than reaching up from the step stool.)

I much prefer the shelves in Store1. They're wood and held in place with 4 metal brackets. The will fall a little more easily (especially if a bracket is missing) but at least if a bracket gets damaged it doesn't make the whole shelf unuseable, and the shelves themselves can't bend in the middle. There are extra brackets in the drawer at every info station and also in receiving and the cashwrap.

[cinema guy]

Sooo not a good idea, the shelves are generally held onto the support arms by gravity alone no screws or anything so if you tread on a bad shelf you *will* tip it and you *will* hurt yourself.

It isn't actually the shelving, it is a solid bar with rubber edging along the bottom at ground level, which I'm guessing is intended to stop trolleys crashing into the shelving. I've worked in a supermarket and have made up enough shelves to know not to climb on the shelves themselves.

[Tauri.Sith]

I'm 4' 10". Yup, that's the story of my life...

At least at work everyone else is at least 5.5 feet and a few people are over 6 feet. So because I'm the n00b, I'm the one always sent back to get stuff - and then trot back up to the front and get someone else five seconds later because it's on the top shelf. So when it's J, B, and I at front counter, I can see people look up at J, up some more to B, and then down...down...down...to me. And then comes the smirk... and the comments...

I've been friends with these people for the past few years. I've heard everything. I really don't need your half-wit comments. Remember, I'm the one taking your order. Puh-leaze.

[GingerBiscuit]

The amount of times I've been trying to reach something on the top shelf, making cute little squeaking noises, and some tall person comes along, reaches it and gives it to me with a look which is a strange combination of amusement, pity, happiness and patronising...

[Golden Phoenix]

I recall that while working checkouts at the supermarket i sold my time to some years back i heard an almighty crash and a lot of shouting.

Found out later that some sucky parent had asked their teenage kid to grab a jar of pasta sauce for them, the sauce was on the top shelf so the kid stood on the second shelf up to reach it instead, result was that the kid pulled the entire shelf over. The kid wasn'thurt cos as soon as he felt the shelf start to go he jumped off but we lost nearly a thousand pounds worth of products when the bottles smashed and the cleaning crew nearly had a nervous breakdown.

The mother and son apparently just walked away from it quickly and vanished into the rest of the store, however we had them on the security cameras so the guard went and found them and ejected them from the place.

Then, damn me if it didn't happen again the next day.

A short (and rather round) gentleman decided thathe wanted a bottle of champagne and couldln't reach it (top shelf stuff) and climbed up to get it. *CRASH* down came another section of shelving with over fifteen thousand pounds worth of wine and champagne.

He was, again ejected from the store, but not before threatening to sue us because his suede coat got splashed and it was our fault for not posting warning signs that the shelves may tip if climbed on.

[Chromatix]

Seems to me that the shelves should have been stabilised - either attached to the wall or to the shelf behind them. Certainly the IKEA shelves I bought recently all have "strongly encouraged" instructions to do so.

[Golden Phoenix]

All our shelves were stabilised with long concrete blocks that attached to the back, they were enough to prevent it tipping over if kids decided to use them as climbing frames, guess no-one ever thought an adult would be that dumb....

[Hyndis]

A short (and rather round) gentleman decided thathe wanted a bottle of champagne and couldln't reach it (top shelf stuff) and climbed up to get it. *CRASH* down came another section of shelving with over fifteen thousand pounds worth of wine and champagne.

He was, again ejected from the store, but not before threatening to sue us because his suede coat got splashed and it was our fault for not posting warning signs that the shelves may tip if climbed on.

I'd think the store would be able to go after him for damages. Probably small claims court or whatever similar thing you have in England. I'd imagine the case would be so easy to make it would merely require showing the judge the security tape of the incident, and you'd have your damages reimbursed.

[Becks]

Even a short employee can quickly grab a little step thing-y from out the back

Not if the store doesn't have any.






Trust me.

[Golden Phoenix]

He was, again ejected from the store, but not before threatening to sue us because his suede coat got splashed and it was our fault for not posting warning signs that the shelves may tip if climbed on.

One thing i forgot to add to this is that we did have "Please do not climb on the shelves, risk of tipping and injury" printed on every 2nd shelf.

I don't know if the store ever tried to sue him for the stuff he broke, i left a few days after, i was working off my four weeks notice befor going to University.