Is it any good?

If you asks what grinds my gears, one thing I could tell you, is when someone asks if something is "Any good"

Examples.:

 1."I've never played 'Name of Game', is it any good?"

 2. "Oh, I've always wanted to see that show! Is it any good?"

The reason why these kinds of questions drive me nuts is because... *Drum roll please*

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT!

We all have different tastes, and opinions! So when someone asks me if something is good, I can only tell them. I don't know your personal tastes, or opinion, that's for you to decide. I personally Like-Dislike it, but you may not.

We all have different opinions, so all because I like something, doesn't mean you will. This question drives me up the wall.. especially when it's on a Question and Answer site. It's like, you're literally a random person that I know from a hole in the wall, how would I possibly know what your tastes are? I may love it, but you could hate it. Although the best case scenario is to say what it's similar to, and see if they like the media you're affiliating it with.

Picture by me

I personally have many favorite characters in video games that everyone hates, I also love Anime, and Video Games, that no one's ever even heard of before! (And will probably hate anyways, because most of the population likes popular things. Poor 'Saint October')

There could be a time when someone asks if something is any good, and everyone says it's bad. But the irony is that, the person asking the question could have enjoyed the subject in question. You just never know!

In my opinion, the only time it's acceptable to ask someone if "It's any good", is when you have a very similar taste in Video Games, Tv shows, Books.. etc.. 

I have a close friend whom we agree on most stuff, and we watch many of the same shows. So when he recommends something to me, 99% of the time, I end up liking the show (Like when he recommended Shadow-Hunters to me) There was one show he recommended, that I couldn't get into (*Cough* The Magicians *Cough*).. There was also a time where I told him about a show, that he wasn't too thrilled of! (Mainly because the one girl on the show was annoying to him, and they constantly say "anal" on that show! "It's a British series called Crashing".)

So even then, there are still differences in opinion! But most of the stuff he tells me about, I like.

The fact of the matter is, you can't ask someone if something is any good, everyone has their own opinion. We're all going to agree, and disagree on different things. Not to mention, there are plenty of websites with show/game/other, sites that show user ratings. Such as Anime-Planet, or Gamespot. If everyone loved it, or hated it, it'll show.

The best way around this is to do your own research, find out what it's about, and see if you like the plot, the characters, and the art style. You can always give a show a spin, or read an excerpt from a book/comic, and for games, you can always watch a let's play, and see if you like it. 

This was a little rant & rave that I wanted to share.

Retail Stories: I still can't believe she did that!?

Despite all of the nasty customers I've had to deal with in retail, I've dealt with a few nasty employees as well! (Although I've by far, dealt with way more nasty customers than employees.) The following is a list of three employees that I had the unfortunate circumstances of working with, although the last one is not someone I worked with, but someone that worked in one of the stores nearby! (So, similar situation, they're an employee).

For privacy, the names are changed. 

I don't know what the F*CK I'm doing!

Devaine - Was a nut, she was one of the new hires of spring 2014. She was rude, crude, and one time she told a customer "I don't know what the F*CK I'm doing!". She was a loony-toon to the max!
This was back when I took the bus, and one time she got on the same bus as me, and gave the bus driver a nasty look. He turned around and was like "Huh?". (This is also the same bus driver from my  Bus drivers are crazy! Story.)
Apparently she had some family problems, but it doesn't excuse the fact that she was nuts! It's pretty frightening that Devaine lived so close to me! (Sorry for the short story, I try not to remember trash!)

JUST DO IT! Y THO? 

Rayne Of Terror - To this day, Rayne is the one manager at the retail job I had. That I can honestly say, I hated with a passion for a long time. As of 2019, I'm over it, I haven't seen this psycho for 4 years, who she? Dunno.

 If I saw this beach on the street, I'd ignore her, because crusty old hags like her don't deserve my time. I got better things to do HENNY.

 I've never had a manager at that store, that was so rude, and for no reason. Thank goodness they fired her after a month, and replaced her with, a full time employee!

Her story was actually pleasant at first. 

She came from another store to give us a helping hand. At first, she was so nice and friendly, I thought she was really cool. First mistake

Eventually after one of our managers got promoted to another store, she joined the team!

(Insert yay?)

I didn't have a problem with her at first, she was pretty cool and chill. But I had been hearing from other people, that she wasn't so nice.  She didn't like the one manager that everyone loved, so she would deliberately screw up the other manager's work, she'd make it so it would look like the other manager didn't do anything! Another associate told me that she had whispered to herself that, "She hated everyone here". The once nice, and interesting manager, was becoming the spawn of satan.

The time that ruined everything for me, was when I had to work on my birthday! (It was the weekend before Christmas, and you can't take off the Saturday before Christmas, and of course it was my 25th birthday!! Go figure!) Everything was going well, and she even wished me a happy birthday.

 It all turned sour later. 

I was the Full Time Home Department associate. When she was at the old store, she was the Home and Kids dept. manager. But coming to my store, they needed to fill the spot for the Womens, and Mens departments.
She was the new womens, and mens dept manager. That didn't stop her from flying over on her broom, and telling home and kids associates what to do, even though that wasn't her job anymore!

On my birthday she asked me to do something, I mentioned that corporate said not to do that. She turned to me, and gave me an attitude "JUST DO IT!". I literally wanted to cry, It was my birthday, she knew it was my birthday. All I did was say that I didn't think corporate wanted that, because I was literally told that corporate didn't want us to do that. But she had to act like a bitch, and from then on, I did not like her. I also started to notice that she was just a miserable, rude piece of trash that belonged in the dumpster!

Another time, I was stuck on register, and I picked up the phone. The person on the phone wanted the manager Mindy, so I went on the loudspeaker asking for Mindy. After a while, Mindy didn't pick up, so I made the page one more time. Rayne came over, and she (In front of customers), asks me if I had seen Mindy, I said no. So she yells at me, "IF YOU DON'T SEE HER, WELL THEN SHE'S NOT HERE!". Immediately after, the male manager in the back called me on my register, and said the same thing! (One of the many reasons why I don't like him either, even if he's nice to me now, he will also be featured in this Nasty Employees bit in the future that I have planned.) I was ringing a customer at the time, and I wanted to cry because of how mean they were, but I couldn't do that in front of the customer! It made no sense to me why both managers were so nasty to me, especially after something so dumb, why does it bother them so much that I made a page for a manager I didn't even know wasn't in. I'm not a mind reader!

But here's the thing..

All because I haven't seen someone, doesn't mean they aren't there. I've had many occurrences where I'd see a manager, or another co-worker, and I had no idea they were even in that day! Maybe Mindy was there, and I just didn't see her yet, it was all in the realm of possibility. Plus, there was a long line, so it's not like I could have checked to see if she was there either. There were never any cashiers at that store, so there were plenty of times where I didn't know who was in, since I was stuck up front.

The funny thing was, I found out why they transferred her from another store to mine. At the store she originated from, money started disappearing from the safe, and they thought it was her! Oddly enough, money did not disappear from our safe. So she either caught on that they were onto her, or it wasn't her. She ended up getting let go, because she wasn't very good at her job. (Who knew!)
We were all glad she was gone! I just wish I could say one last thing to her! She was an ass!
The biggest twist of fate, was months later.. the guy that I liked, that came from the same store, was actually hired by her! How weird and funny is that!

Pizza For You, But Not Me!

Pizza Place Employee - Before we get on with this story, the strip mall that my store is located in does a discount for stores in the strip mall. Anyone that works for a store in the strip mall gets 10% off at other stores in the strip mall. So if you go into the bagel store, or pizza place, you can say you work at "name" store and they'll give you 10% off your purchase. Since my store is a part of a corporation that has over 600 stores, corporate does not want to be involved with this idea, and so only the employees can do it if they're willing to, and hopefully don't get in trouble for it from corporate! The higher ups knew that employees, supervisors and managers were allowing people from other stores/food places in the malls to get the 10% off. This upset corporate and they started cracking down, and getting mad at everyone, so from then on if anyone did give 10%, they'd get into trouble for it.

I started ringing up this woman, no idea what her name was, but we'll call her "Lainey Reyes". She asked me if an employee was in, we'll call them Dent. I said that Dent was not in, she told me that Dent had given her an employee discount card to use in the store. But she lost hers, so she wanted to know if he was in, so he could give her a discount. Since I knew she worked at the pizza place, I genuinely wanted to help her out and give her a discount. So I asked the manager who was also ringing, she said that she couldn't use her card because corporate was watching her and she would get into trouble, she asked me to ask someone else. So I asked the cashier next to me, if she could let me use her card to do the discount. She said that she wouldn't, because we're not allowed to do that anymore, and that she doesn't want to get into trouble. I told the pizza lady that I wasn't allowed to, and she was right there when the one employee said we'd get into trouble for it. So instead of being understanding, the lady got mad, and was like.... This is not fair, I see you going to the pizza store all of the time, maybe I won't let you have a 10% discount! She was so rude and getting all mad at me, for something that I could not control. Like it's not my fault that the store is a corporation, and has stricter policies, where as the pizza place is a family chain with two locations, and is lenient where they don't mind things like that. So she was getting all mad at me, and just being rude, and unpleasant. Like, you see me trying to help you! Then when the cashier next to me literally says she'll get into trouble, you still whine about it, and take it out on me?!
Then the supervisor came over, and gave her the discount. The lady went on her way afterwards.

But you'd think that being in a customer service business as well, that she'd be more understanding, and nicer about it. But nope, she was as rude as the rest of the clientele they get in the store.
After that, I did not go to the pizza place for months. I was worried I was going to get her, and she would be rude to me. Fortunately, I never saw her ugly face again, and have yet to see it! I'm assuming she doesn't work there anymore, and if she doesn't, I'm not surprised! Rotten people go nowhere but down! 

Keywords: Why retail is the worst job, Who are retail customers?, Why retail jobs are bad, Retail is hard, Retail Experience, Retail Examples, Retail Industry, Retail Sector, Retail Times, Retail Workers.

Why this day was one of the wildest ones to date!

These events occurred on November 16th, 2016. Is the date important? Not really...

Just another day in retail...

I had one heck of a wacky Wednesday! I was ringing, and an associate needed help with a price for shoes. I went off register to help her get a price. These two ladies on line get rude, and yell at us "Is someone buying those shoes?! I said yes, and walked away. The associate said to me, it's not our fault we're understaffed. (I just thought it was weird that this associate needed my help, since she's been here for like 8 years but whatever, we're not going to judge.) I got a price for the lady with the shoes, and I ended up ringing her up later, and the lady DIDNT BUY THEM!! Like seriously I had to get off register when there was a line, get yelled at by a random person on line, just for this BUTT not to buy them! The lady had someone with her, and they were annoying too. They wanted me to wrap every single fragile item with like wads of paper wrap. Usually, I give them a sheet, and that will do the job. Meanwhile, half of the time, these people return fragile stuff, and we end up throwing the paper out, it's just a waste of paper!

The Tape lady!! 

 Later, I was in our Christmas section, and we have all of this gift type stuff. It'll be like a mug or a bucket, and goodies of candy wrapped around plastic. So I was all up in there, and this lady is like "Do you work here?" I was like yes. She asked if we had scotch tape. I said no, I've never seen that here before. So then she makes a remark about all the gift stuff. Something like, "What about all this then?!" I guess she thinks that someone taped these baskets etc. But these gift baskets are all shipped already wrapped. Second, it's a twisty tie that they use to keep the plastic wrapping together, and last of all, just say tape! It's all the same, brand shouldn't matter! (It drives me crazy when people ask for a specific brand in that manner.).

Trees are people too

There was another person who came up to me, and she asks where the Christmas tree skirts are, I said they're right there, as I point. You want to know where they were?? RIGHT NEXT TO HER!! Like seriously??! Customers asking where something is just for it to be right in front of their face happens, way too frequently!

Double Trouble!
These random two people come up to me, all they say are "7 Twin?! 7 Twin?!". I was like huh?? I said, like a mattress or a comforter? They go 7 TWIN?! 7 TWIN?!. I asked them what the product was, and they said a tray or something like that. I just said that if we have it, it'll be over there. Then I went to register to tell a cashier about these strange people, and they were already on line ( this was like a 3-5 minutes after). I had to take her in the little room next to the registers to tell her what happened. They had an accent, so I'm wondering if they were saying something else.

There was one time, when this employee from another store called, I could not tell what she was saying, so I said we didn't have what she was looking for. Which she seemed confused, I guess in the system it said we had a few... I'm not good with social confrontation. I'll just keep asking what they said, they'll just get mad at me...

Grandma?! Is that you?

This little old lady asks me a question, she had a round storage container and it's 9.99. She complains about how the two pack and the three pack are also 9.99, and that there must be a mistake. At first I thought maybe it was a different company or size, but it wasn't. In fact, the three pack was the same color and size as the one she wanted. I told her, it's like when a vending machine has a tiny bag of chips for a dollar, and the grocery stores have giant bags for 2, it's how they make more money. But she was not having it, I told her I can't do anything. So I told the supervisors up front to watch out for her, if she tries anything funny!

I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes! 

Then, this one lady asked me if we had bath rugs, I said yes, they're in the aisle over there. A minute later she goes, "down this aisle?" I said no, the other one, just like the sign says, and then she found it. It really confuses me how it's so hard for people to find things in stores that aren't large (My store is big, but it's not that big, it's like a big box, and you can see the other side of the store from a distance. Macy's, on the other hand, is a maze, and I'd understand that one.) People really do not look at signs, even if they're incredibly big. There are times when, at the registers, a customer will ask if there is a separate line for returns, and purchases.. I'll tell them, it's all the same, just like the sign says. The sign that says purchases and returns, is literally like 6 feet tall, and these people do not even notice it RIGHT NEXT TO THEM! I swear, some people would not be able to get themselves out of a cardboard box. It worries me sometimes, that these people are on the roads driving! 

Keywords: Why retail is the worst job, Who are retail customers?, Why retail jobs are bad, Retail is hard, Retail Experience, Retail Examples, Retail Industry, Retail Sector, Retail Times, Retail Workers.

Retail Stories: Why couldn't they get it together?

This is the 8th edition of Retail Stories, this is the edition of people that just need to get it together. When I thought my life was a mess, I sure didn't know of these people! *Audience Laughter*.

Can You Put This On Hold?

There was this one lady on the phone, she asked me if we still had these ugly outdoor cushions (Or at least, I think I thought they were ugly? I either thought they were pretty, or ugly, I don't exactly remember.. I want to say they were red, and white stripes.. but I might be thinking of something else). She asked me to put them on hold for her, which I did. My store can only hold items until the end of the night, if they aren't picked up, the item goes back on the floor. By the next day, they were still there, and she hadn't picked them up yet. She called the store again, asking to put them on hold, so we just kept them on hold. She kept doing this everyday, she would ask me, or someone else to put those outdoor chair cushions on hold, but she'd never come to pick them up! Finally, the supervisor got a hold of her. She told the lady, if she doesn't pick them up that day, they were going back on the floor. The lady said she'd come and get them, but she never did! Those stupid cushions sat there for a long time too! Months later, when they were still there, I even thought, "Those are the cushions that lady said she'd buy, but never did!".  She really sounded like she wanted them, but instead she was just playing musical chairs!

I'm..IN...IN LOVE WITH YOU!!!! ♥ (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻  ♥

This isn't a Valentine's day post, but conveniently this is posted on V-Day, and this could be the closest thing to a V-Day post you'll get right now. This was coincidental, as I didn't know when I was going to  make this post. I just happen to have the day off, and in the mood to write!

There's this one weird lady that would frequent the store, I haven't seen her for at-least half a year. But every time she'd come in, or even call the store. She'd ask if this one guy Jaime was in, because she was super obsessed, and "in love with him". Here we have a woman, who has to be in her forties, and she's obsessing over someone that could be her kid. Now, I'm all for age differences, but to just obsess and stalk some kid that works in a store, is bonafide CRAZY!

She also has no problem talking about her dirty laundry. One time, she admitted to an associate that she had to shove toilet paper up her "HOO-HA" because she's on her period. Well... isn't that a lovely tale....

Marsha Marsha Marsha!

There was a lady caught on camera, who walked straight into the window! Instead of walking into the front door that opens, she walked right into the glass window in the middle of the doors that don't open. The result of doing so, was that she broke her nose. The security dude showed me the video, and it was pretty funny. Although, apparently I think she sued, which makes no sense because it's her fault she's an idiot and can't read the big stickers that say ENTER AND EXIT..

Ain't Got No Time Fo' Dat!

This one lady took about 2-5 minutes, to ruffle through all of her change. Took so much time to count it, that by the time she was done searching through her bag, and COUNTED the money. A moderately sized line formed, and I had to call other people up to help ring...
If it were me, I'd be worried that I was wasting everyone's time! Also, I'd just use a card, it's easier/quicker.

 

Keywords: Why retail is the worst job, Who are retail customers?, Why retail jobs are bad, Retail is hard, Retail Experience, Retail Examples, Retail Industry, Retail Sector, Retail Times, Retail Workers.

Retail Stories: Why didn't these people stop?

This is the 7th edition of Retail Stories! This edition is about people, who just need to

STAAAAHP!
These people need to just quit already while they're ahead!!

Size Matters!

I was once notified by an employee, that she saw an obese woman trying on bras that were waaaay too small for her. The employee was extremely grossed out.

How much are you?

One time when I was ringing, I called the next person over. It was a girl and her friends? As she's walking towards the register, she shouts, "I want to buy you!". I said that I wasn't cheap.
Part of the cashiers job at my store, is to ask for a phone number at the end of the transaction. The  phone number is used as a code, so if the person loses their receipt, we can look up the purchase through the number. After ringing her up, I ask for her phone number for return purposes... At this time I knew she was going to say something, but we get in trouble if we don't ask for phone numbers. So I wasn't going to not ask for it, and I was new. She told me her phone number, and afterwards, she said I could keep it for personal reasons. I truly didn't know what to say, I thought I should just say that "Sorry, I like the pole, not the hole", but that's a bit crude. A few days later, I was hanging out with my friends, and my friend Victor said I should have said this. *Victor points finger* "I would tear that up, but unfortunately, you have the wrong parts. Now, if you have a brother, bring him over!" Never a dull moment when Victor is around!

Under My Umbrella-Ella Ay Ay

This one is actually a bit on the negative side...
 
I had already clocked out, and I was waiting for my ride as my car had broken down. I went to check if my ride was at the door. As I was walking to the door, a lady had stopped me. She asked if I worked there. I said I do, but I'm off the clock. So I just keep walking away, and then she gets rude and was like, I GUESS YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE THE UMBRELLAS ARE!? I just screamed, they're over there! *Points* And she was like OK I GET IT! Or something, and I yelled, I'm not getting paid for this!!!
20 minutes later, I realized that I had pointed to where the umbrellas used to be. Since I'm never working that area, I work on the other side of the store. I'm used to where the umbrellas were a year ago...
I went to buy something and I saw her on line, so I waited for her to leave first before I went to purchase something.
There was another instance where I said I was off the clock, but told them where the thing was they were looking for, and they said,  "Oh that's ok, I just wanted to know where something was!".
But people don't seem to understand, if I'm not getting paid to help you, I don't want to help you. I really doubt these people would want me to ask questions about their job when they're not getting paid! Like unless you want to give me 10 dollars right now, don't ask me when I'm off the clock.
So now, I just tell them that I don't work there. It's like no matter what you say to customers, they're always going to give you trouble!
But also another reason why you don't ask people questions about a department they don't even know much about, they'll unknowingly give you the wrong information! Especially if they're used to an old layout that they remember.
One time, someone asked my friend Rebecca if we had lunch bags, she said we didn't have them. She worked in the womens dept, which was on the complete opposite of where the lunch bags were. So she had no idea we had them! That customer asked the wrong person, and got the wrong answer. Which is also why I don't get people who ask questions in stores, it's not hard to look, but at the same time, someone might not know everything!

My favorite is when you have a jacket on, you have your bags and they still stop you, and ask you questions. Clearly, I am not working right now....

Keywords: Why retail is the worst job, Who are retail customers?, Why retail jobs are bad, Retail is hard, Retail Experience, Retail Examples, Retail Industry, Retail Sector, Retail Times, Retail Workers.