Here is a chapter from my book, and I plan on releasing it mid-june if everything goes well, and I plan on accepting stories up until June 1!
Chapter 1: The Beginning of My Fun Journey!
I never planned on working retail at all. I wanted to continue at the job I was at since I was making 8.75 in the two years I worked there. I was an assistant to a successful company and helped them with research. Then it was bought out by another and I was laid off. I live in the Crystal Crest realm, and after I graduated South Bend high school I went to a community college. The whole time I was working retail on the weekends. I was unemployed for six months and then I got a job at Kyle’s General Store working retail. I’ve graduated community college, and then transferred to South Bend University to major in English and minor in History. I live at my apartment off campus and commute to college.
My name is Angeline and you will see me in my new book AngelWitch where I finally find my escape from retail and move on to bigger and better things.
When I’m not studying for classes I’m at work 4 days out of the week. I have long black hair and smokey grey eyes. I’m pale since I don’t get out in the sun much. I have a slim body, and it fits with the Kyle’s General Store outfit. Black shirts with the words Kyle’s General store, and it has to be collared. Black pants even black jeans are allowed. They have added a black vest to the mix so people can identify who works there, but it doesn’t matter since I still have people ask if I work there. There is a name tag on the left side and it has my nickname Angel for short on it. I love the fact that it’s all black since black is my color. I even wear black eyeshadow and nail polish to match.
I work weekends and working 5 years in retail is slowly killing me. Yes, I make $11.50 an hour since they changed minimum wage in Crystal Crest. The government there decided people need more money, and changed it to make lives better. Retail is not for me though. I can’t stand being around managers that run you to the ground. I can’t stand the customers who want you to break rules just for them, and these are the same people who expect to get a gift card just for them waiting around “wasting their time and expect you to pay them for it.” when you are running other departments as well as yours. Or, they expect to get special service because they spend a ton of money there. None of it matters though.
I work in the jewelry area, and everywhere since I’m expected to be cross trained in different departments when the stupid computers don’t know how to schedule people. My job is mainly the jewelry area, and I show people jewelry. I put batteries in watches only the ones we carry in the store. That policy is not mine it’s the companies, but it doesn’t stop customers from trying to get us to do it. I install watch bands and fulfill personal orders like class rings, name plates and personalized jewelry.
Kyle’s General Store is located off Surrey road, and it offers discount products for a good price. Or so they think. It’s in a really rich neighborhood, and that means the customers have a lot of money to spend at expensive retail stores, but they shop here to save some. Some customers like them expect to be waited on like the store is a high end one when it’s not. Not even close, and some of them even expect you to be their personal shopper. That’s what I hate the most since they act like they can’t read the price, and they want you to even help them pick out their own shoes. They ask questions and don’t even bother looking for themselves.
They also expect you to be able to read their mind when they tell you about an item they found at another store. Or they expect you to walk them to the area if they can’t find an item when it’s right in front of them.
I try to be nice and smile at the customers since there is a ten foot rule only to be ignored or mocked by them. It would be a different story if people were nicer, but some of them are not. They don’t even treat workers like people, and manager Alex called us bodies. Alex Jones the manager below the store manager Kyle has been a pain in my side ever since he started working there. Tall, dark haired, and glacier blue eyes. Always had a scowl on his face, and he was an asshole to people telling them about the ruthless point system when they were genuinely sick. He told me that I should be able to hold it in when I told him I wanted to go home after I caught food poisoning. A ruthless asshole.
“I need a warm body here,” is something Alex said when I was listening in on the fitting room walkie like I usually do. They just need a body at that point even if they don’t work there.
What they don’t tell you once you sign up for said job is they will put you wherever they need you. Hell those idiots move you to where they want you to go, and even if you haven’t been assigned there. Managers will be petty, and assign you to places where they know you don’t like it. Kyle put me on the register so many times that I want to bash his fucking brains in. He is an asshole. He is tan with blonde hair and blue eyes. He looks like he should be out in the sun surfing instead he is making people miserable at Kyle’s. The managers don’t care about you as a person because another manager who is a woman like Alex told me once when I told her I had a Dr’s note, and that it wasn’t planned since the boss at the time never took me off the schedule that, “Their job is not to work around your schedule.” Waahhh. Spoken like a true heartless manager.
Okay, prove my point that half of you are horrible managers.
I hate it here since it’s the same old shit day after day, and over the years every day is an ordeal for Kyle and some of the things he does is fucking ridiculous. Kyle gets on the Co-managers, who get on the assistants, and they take it out on the supervisor and then the associates. It’s a vicious cycle, and everyone is stressed out. When corporate comes I know the day is going to be incredibly long since that is when they are the most stressed and horrible to their employees. They complain about stuff not being done when it should have been done weeks ago, and do shit only when the bigwigs are there. It’s bullshit.
It doesn’t make any sense to put me on the register when I’m in a sale area, and you can thank him and the customer service people for your wait at the counter. It’s their fault anyway. They are the idiots pulling people out of their departments.
The rude and stupid customers make me sick since some of them treat the workers like they are stupid. One bitch even made fun of my math skills when I have a math disability. Customers mess up everything especially after I just cleaned up the area, and I’ve heard a few mothers say, “It’s their job to pick up after us.” When their kid picks up stuff off the floor.
And then after treating me badly you wonder why you get bad service? How about as a customer when you need assistance don’t treat me like I’m stupid I get it I work retail. That doesn’t mean I’m dumb though. Don’t stare at me thinking I am going to automatically know you need help. Speak up and stop treating me like they are incompetent just because you are horrible at communicating what you want.
Some customers can’t describe items worth shit, or they use different terms as if they are more educated then the person working there. It doesn’t make a person smarter it makes them look like a jackass. They also over explain the item to me when they get think I don’t know what they are talking about, and guess what? I don’t one dumbass described it to me silently about undies saying they tuck in like she thought I was a dumbass…Nope. You just suck at explaining. Grunting and showing me what you mean doesn’t help either. And speak clearly and loud enough for me to hear you, and never explain it to me like you think I’m slow.
I’ve written down policy changes in those (which change so fucking often I have to write it down), notes about the job, and some angry customer stories.
Retail is not for everyone, and if you don’t have the ability to let shit roll off you then this is not the job for you…I’ve been a sales associate who works everywhere. I have worked in the fitting room, phones, jewelry, shoes and accessories. I have been working at times throughout all the clothing departments too like: men’s, boys, infants, girls, women’s and lingerie. I’ve helped out in other departments when I’ve needed to such as toys, housewares, lawn and garden even in the meat and frozen food departments. Stupid managers made me since they don’t have enough coverage in other areas, and they are so shorthanded in their areas they can use others too. I hate it since it means I get blamed for not having work done in my department. Yet the dumb managers can’t see how stupid it is to pull from other departments. Not to mention when someone asks me where something is in another department I don’t know where every single item is since I don’t usually work there. Then the customer treats me like I’m the dumb one when they don’t describe the item well and say, “Never mind I’ll find it myself…I thought you would know.”
Then they assume we have all the same things when we don’t and different Kyle’s carry different products. The online website and in store are different and unless online is the salespersons area they aren’t going to know how it works. Don’t ask a sales associate about the website, and stop being lazy and look for yourself. People act like they can’t help themselves…they can.
Part of the reason customers can’t find sales associates in our areas is thanks to the managers. The managers have a stupid habit of pulling people out of their departments and then get mad when their departments are not straightened. It’s their fault since they pulled the associate in the first place. It’s a job that requires talking to people and showing them merchandise. A job that requires answering stupid questions like a customer wanting to know the price when it’s right in front of them, and directing them to the items they are in front of. Times like those I want to slap the person for acting like a dumbass about it.
I have stories for every section I’ve worked in, and I’m going to share it with you. Sit back relax, and enjoy the ride since these are stories that will laugh, entertain you, and make you never want to work retail ever. There is also a special section for sales associates and how to survive retail.
You are going to need it to forget all the stupid people you have dealt with throughout the day. The stories are in their own little sections too, and I’ve even thrown in a pet peeve list at the end of each since it’s what not to do to a sales associate. If you have worked retail you will know my pain, and for those of you that haven’t I hope it will be a real eye opener on how not to treat someone, and you can see the crazy customers we will encounter on a day to day basis…I hope you will learn to be nicer to the person behind the counter too, and don’t say I’m being rude in here and I should get another job since I will have another one. I see day to day how people behind the counter get treated, and I’m sick of it. I should not be coming home crying or ranting because of a rude customer who could not get their way, and I should not have to deal with being run around ragged because the managers expect us to have super powers. I shouldn’t be treated like I’m not a human being because I work retail. I’m human too, and I make mistakes too like everyone else. My head should not be bitten off because another person put the item in the wrong spot, or stole something and it’s my fault the other shoe is missing.
The people who say the customer is always right clearly haven’t worked with the general public before. I’m not saying the job is bad, and without the customer we would not have a job. This is a book that mainly harps on the bad stuff at times. It’s not for everyone. Think of it for people who deal with this shit everyday….These stories can show that.
This is unedited right now, and I’ll definitely use an editor for the grammar it’s different then some of the stories since it’s a series of customer stories. There are a ton of them so I didn’t go into detail with some of them because of that.
I hope you enjoyed it,
Jess
