So, Sears is having "Christmas in July."

I've never been so embarrassed about setting up a display in my laugh.
Customers laughed at me as I set up the very obvious out of season stuff at
the beginning of July.

Seriously, it's hotter than hell outside and Sears wants people to buy
Christmas stuff. I don't get it.

I wonder how everyone else feels about this. Too bad no one reads this
blog, LoL.

I am in school to be a teacher and a good many of my classes have involved
the discussion of rules and punishments for people that break these rules.
If you want to run a functioning, productive classroom, you have a solid
set of rules and punishments/rewards. The same can be applied to web forums
or any other place that people gather.

Personally, I am happy that PFB has finally posted a concrete list of what
we can and cannot do. I don't understand the fuss about this aspect of the
TOS post. It's a list of rules. Rules that, apparently, have always existed
and now they are in physical form. I see this as a good thing and we won't
have to worry about abuse from moderators. They can't ban you or remove
comments out of spite (I doubt they ever did this in the first place) but
must follow the rules.

I do understand why some people are upset over the six strike rule. But
really, does it actually matter?

I've had, perhaps, two comments in the past that I know have been removed.
I don't think it is actually something that happens. This "six strike" rule
is there to safeguard against truly abusive commenters and I don't think we
have anyone like that on PFB anymore.

Personally, I am appalled by the nastiness over something as silly as a
list of rules by both the PFB team and other commenters. It's been a
complete turn off and I don't know if I'll ever come around to comment
again.

I can't find gas anywhere!

How am I going to get to school tomorrow?

GAS. NO WHERE!

Today I'm on vacation!

Just one day of vacation. I was forced to take out vacation hours because
my hours at work were cut way back.

And to think, they are hiring two more people for the team. How am I
supposed to keep my job if I get no hours?

I'm nearly done with my schooling to become a teacher, but now it seems
like you can't get hired anywhere. There is a great need for teachers, but
there's no money to pay them with.

So now I wonder if I even chose the right career. What if I graduate and
never can find a job? What else can I do with an elementary education
degree?

It's a very stressful situation for me.

With all the letters and hurricanes out there, I thought I would put a list
together of things that I do when a hurricane is coming up for a visit.
This list is kind of written towards a third point of view and not first
person, so sorry if that's weird.

1. Fill up gas tank.
2. Check the hurricane kit (thoughtfully prepared before hurricane
season.)
3. Clear the gutters.
4. Cut down any weak looking limbs.
5. Bring in anything that might blow away. If it's a cat 3 and above--bring
everything because it WILL blow away.
6. Make sure phone bill is paid.
7. In fact, make sure all bills are paid.
8. Contact family members to tell them about the situation.
9. Run around like crazy.
10. Maybe board up the windows or tape them up.
11. Run around like crazy.
12. Maybe consider evacuating.
13. When it gets bad outside, find a comfy spot in the middle of the house
where there isn't any windows and pray. Pray hard, especially when the
radio stations finally go silent and you are cut off from the rest of the
world until the storm passes.
14. After the storm passes, check your house for damage.
15. Start cleaning. Pile the limbs and other yard debris next to the
street, but keep the space around the mail box clear.
16. Resist the urge to sight see and to check on things outside of the
immediate area.
17. Thank whomever you need to that you are safe and alive, even if your
house took a beating.
18. Call relatives and tell them that you are still alive.

The end.

You know, I don't get why people don't greet customers.

I do it, though sometimes I'll admit, I get pretty robotic about it. I say
my greeting without even realizing it sometimes. Or I say my departing
spiel ("thanks for shopping with Sears and have a good day") like it's
nothing. It's so ingrained into me that I say it to employees at other
places, even if they don't greet me first.

I always say, "Hi, how are you?" and when I leave, I say, "Thanks and have
a good day."

Why don't other customers make the effort to greet employees, even if the
employee doesn't greet you first? I've seen employees get surprised that I
say anything at all to them.

I greet and thank not because it's been drilled into me at Sears, but
that's because how I was raised--to say hi to people and to thank them for
doing something for them.

So, how about everyone try to do the same, even if--Heaven forbid!--the
employee didn't greet you? It's just about being a polite person.

Many people these days don't say anything to me when I greet them (even
when I'm cheerful about it!) or they just leave after I thank them. Or they
TALK ON THEIR CELLPHONES the entire transaction, during which, I am also
silent. I don't speak to them at all. If they can't break away from their
obviously important phone call for three minutes then I won't interrupt
them. I wish I could skip them in the line.

I feel like the dirt on the bottom of their shoes when they talk through
the transaction like I'm not even there, so that's why I've stopped trying.
I hate cell phones, which is why mine's off most of the time and left in my
car. I use it rarely. But that's a rant for another day and time.

Today it seemed like customers were in an exceptionally foul mood. I don't
know why...as pleasant as I was trying to be and as hard as I was working,
people were still quite snippy and rude to me. I try not to take it
personally, but it was getting a bit annoying and frustrating.

I was working hard to set up the day's sales and, well, I didn't get done
before the store opened. We are running an extra 40% off clearance on
children's clothing and I needed to put signs up stating the fact. (it was
in our circular too.) Well, as I was putting them up, I greeted a lady and
her kids and signed around them. Then, with a very clear and loud tone, she
says,

"People should have the sale set up before the store opens!" She said it in
an incredibly nasty way and I looked at her and she was glaring at me. I
told her I was sorry and that I was working as fast as I could. But she
didn't say anything and kept going. I don't understand what her problem
was.

One cashier rang up an item that we actually don't have on hand. It was
some furniture, I think. A stroller that was on closeout/clearance. I was
in that department checking on some salessigns when the woman and I suppose
her mother came huffing up to me and said, "do you work here?"

I told them yes and then she accuses me of ruining her day because the
cashier forgot to check the stock for the item. I apologized many times,
but nothing seemed to help. I tried to order the item, but couldn't. I
called two other stores, but they didn't have it. She wanted the display,
but we can't sell the display for liability reasons (and the fact that it's
stitched into the stroller "DON'T SELL.") I was going to reason with
her...have her pick out a stroller that we had in stock and I'd give her a
discount on it. But she told me I wasted enough time and wanted a refund.
Then, the register was going to give her cash back and she wanted on her
debit card. She accused me again of trying to rob her (wth?) So I had to do
some magic and get a manager to approve to put it on her debit card. She
wanted the customer relations line so she could complain. So I gave it to
her. I don't know how else I could make her happy. I don't know if there
was any way I could make her happy.

A gentleman wanted a tray set we had in the ad, but we didn't have them in
stock. So I tried to order it on line for him (free shipping too!) but he
got mad and left.

People were just petty and mean today. These three people were about the
tip of the iceberg when it came to crabbiness.

PEOPLE...c'mon, treat us lowly associates with some respect!

I have moderate dyslexia with a severe side of APD. I have an auditory
processing disorder, which frustrates me and sometimes customers.

You see, I can't process auditory information as quickly as regular people.
It doesn't mean I'm stupid...my brain just works differently. Sometimes
when you give me a phone number, an address, etc, I hear the information,
but I cannot, for the life of me, understand or process the information.
The only solution I've been given is to ask for a driver's license to enter
information or have them write it down. When speaking with customers, I use
things like lip reading to understand what they are saying. Usually I can
hear people all right, I just can't "understand" what they are saying.

I must see it in order to process it. I'm not stupid or dumb, but I can't
tell you the amount of times I've been called slow or had customers huff
and puff because I've had to repeatedly ask them to slow down and say
things again.

This is part of the reason why I got off the "front lines" of CSRing and
I'm not a cashier anymore. So I don't run into these types of problems as
much, but when I do, I dread it, I really do. I can't make my managers
understand why I don't get credit aps or sign ups for other things. I dread
it...and I hate feeling stupid because I can't put the information in
without making myself feel and look stupid/slow for repeatedly asking
things.

So the point of this blog post is to remind anyone reading...always be
polite and understanding when a customer service rep asks for information
again. They might have a problem like mine. CSRs don't ask for information
again just to be annoying. Don't huff and puff when you are asked to
provide an ID so they can read it. If you want to stay private and not show
ID, I understand that, but be prepared to do a lot of repeating.

Okay thanks...I had to get that off my chest after a very trying day.

I generally like customers. But there are some things that happen that
annoy me.

1. When I'm busy working on marking down a rack and a customer tries to
shop on the very same arm I'm working on. I realize that these people want
to see what I'm marking down and how much for, but it would be very nice
indeed if they would simply ASK and not butt in my way.

2. When customers go through items on my work cart. Sometimes I have to
leave my cart and there will be "problem" merchandise on it. Merchandise
that's rolled zero and needs to be returned. Merchandise without tags that
I need to fix. Merchandise that is dirty and I need to laundry sheet, etc.
Or it could be I put items on there that I'm working on. I dislike it very
much when I come up and see people rummaging through items on my work cart
when it is very obvious that it shouldn't be messed with. I always ask
people if they need help with anything and they KNOW that they are in the
wrong because they give me a guilty look and hastily depart.

3. Customers that aren't responsible human beings. They leave their trash
on fixtures or in carts. They trash the bathrooms. They go around spills or
broken, dangerous, items on the floor and don't alert employees about it. I
know it's not the customer's job to clean up spills, but a responsible
person would at least alert the responsible party to a problem to get it
cleaned up.

4. Customers who try to harass lower prices out of employees. I had this
happen to be the other day. When I say I can't go any lower (already went
50% off for this person), I can't go any lower. No amount of name calling,
hissy fits, or foot stomping can change that.

5. People who can't control their kids and let them treat the store as
their personal playground. I love children. I just don't like the parents
that come with them sometimes.

6. People who can't use the escalator properly. You stand on the escalator,
not sit. You don't walk up the down escalator or walk down the up
escalator. You don't hang over the rails to wave at friends. You don't take
your stroller, with baby strapped in, on the escalator. Hold the hand of
your youngster so they don't fall. Make sure your youngster doesn't hit the
emergency stop button on the escalator. Remember, escalators aren't toys,
it's not a "ride." Use it appropriately.

I have many others. People just need to be responsible for themselves and
mindful of others, employees and customers alike.

After a long hiatus, I've opened my profile again...I'm not sure what I'm
going to use it for. I have a lot of thoughts and want to keep this
particular blog of mine related to topics on PFB but I don't know how
that'll work out!

Anyhow, more later, I guess. :-)

I've never been big on blogging. Hope it works.

I am glad that there are many other people on PFB that agree with me in
regards to Circuit City's recent actions. I was afraid that people wouldn't
know what I was talking about, heh.

That made me so angry. I know that it worries a lot of my co-workers at
well. I don't work for CC, but rather for Sears. Salespeople there are
commissioned, but Sears is slowly chipping away at that as well. Results
haven't been good. Sears decided to change the pay/commission rate in the
tools and lawn&garden department. The backlash? Many of the department's
veteran employees, the ones that make the most sales, are looking for other
jobs. They have been hit with potentially massive pay cuts and have to
scramble and fight with co-workers just to try and make even near what they
did before the move. That means declining customer service. Associates that
don't know what they are doing because they have no one to teach them.

That's sad. Could what happened at CC happen at Sears or any other company?
Who knows. Now that one company has made such a harsh and ugly move, seems
like the door's open for others to do the same. It's just awful.