Cookie's work capers at the Strip Club and Beef House continue and despite some assholes, I am finding that I do enjoy the job.
Despite the fact that I received far more smiles that snarls, one woman - decided that I was THE WORST EMPLOYEE IN THE HISTORY of the Strip Club and Beef House. Yes, the worst. Ever. And the more she vented, the louder she got. And at one point in her tirade, she looked at Cookie and said "You don't even care, you are just standing there with your mouth open."
Yes, I was slack jawed, but honestly, I have never heard someone torque off like an air raid siren.
But what can you do? She evidently needed to get something out, I thought at first.
Then she yelled "You aren't being very nice to the merchandise!"
Hello?
Since the Beef House and Strip Club doesn't sell any living being, this was an odd statement. Something was off.
And what was off was her inability to see the merchandise as something inanimate. A plant is living, yes. And so is a pet, a person, family members, friends. But a paperweight? She couldn't even name the object, it was merchandise.
Having been around older people a great deal, I know the signals of dementia. Easy excitability. Inability to find words, names or recognize faces.
So just letting her go off on her own was the best thing for her.
And despite her tongue lashing, I hope she is OK. Seriously.
But it makes me wonder. Cookie is twenty years from his seventies. Will I be the one screaming like madman and not making sense in a few years?
In any event, life is for the living and I plan on being around for a great many years. To quote a friend, "you're too ornery to get old."
Exactly what were you doing at the time of her implosion?
ReplyDeleteJust standing there. Honestly. Even my co-workers were taken aback.
DeleteI'm a little slack jawed reading this.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time with crazy, unless it's my crazy.
Trust me. If you are over 40 and work in retail, despite your best efforts to get back into 9 to 5 job, the public assumes that you are there because 1) You're an idiot and 2) They can abuse you because they have tagged you an idiot.
DeleteWait til you experience age discrimination.
ReplyDeleteI have been the target of that. I have been called, at this job: Troll, Gramps and , this really made me laugh out loud, "Grandpa Walton".
DeleteI have also heard one customer to another Guest Services employee "Fatty at the cashier's counter sent me to you..."
Oh, Cookie! Strip Club and Beef?! No! This reminds me of an article that a Vietnamese-American woman wrote about going to nail salons and writing about their gossip, thinking no one else understood them. I have a lot of waitressing stories and some are funny, but many of them involve personal attacks. It's the coward's way.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I can understand a consumer's frustrations, especially with Internaltional Amalgamated when the decisions are being made in a black box in Manhattan. And most who lose it simply want to be acknowledged and soothed with "I understand". But when they keep ramping up their screaming like an air raid siren, something is whacked.
DeleteYears ago I worked in a chic contemporary design shop. A woman bought a sofa on clearance and wanted to ship it across the country on a train. On a train? When the train shipping deal fell through she wanted to return the sofa. I explained it was a clearance item and was clearly marked "No Returns". She started yelling then screaming then crying in a matter of minutes and I was obviously Satan.
ReplyDeleteThe store owner who reminded my of Edith Head walked over and informed me that she would be taking over. She introduced herself and snapped an instant photo of the woman then tacked it up on a wall next to a few others. She told the lady that she was banned from her establishment as she handed over the cash and grabbed the woman by the wrist and said, "The only reason I'm giving you're money back is that you need to seek professional help as there is obviously something more to this than just a SOFA! Good day madam."
Love her!
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