Day Fourteen

The day begins auspiciously. A wealthy customer is in the store and he wants a tripod. I tell him the only brand I would sell him in the whole store is M------- because the others are crap. He agrees having used some of our other brands previously. But he wants a deal on the M-------- tripod. I ask Tammy but she says I can't give him a discount. He looks at me, trying to size me up like a fellow salesmen. "I just can't take it at this price. If you can't knock off at least the tax I'm not buying it" he proclaims to the store. He waits in silence for ten minutes for me to go talk to Tammy again to lower the price. But I'm not interested in being a salesman so I don't ask Tammy again and I wait with him until he walks out the door.

Sarah comes in. She says something about working with me next week. I check the schedule. It says I'm working new years day. The thought of being sickeningly hungover and being accosted by crabby geriatrics is too much. I tell Tammy I'm through after tomorrow.

Beatrice is back. She tries to pick up her calendars early but they're not ready. She looks at the staff like they're rotting vegetables. When she comes back an hour later she's even angrier, but at least her calendars are done right. Then she tells me "there should be a discount for doing six, like I did". "Why isn't there a discount?"

"Beatrice", I say as I look her in the eyes, "I'm gonna make sure to bring up your concerns to someone who can do something about it at the next available opportunity".

The entire lab staff is in the weeds because of the Christmas print rush. I start to look for a customer's order. When I can't find it in the bin that holds the orders for last names starting in C. But it's missing. Assuming it's still being made, I start to search for it in the back. Soon Paula joins the hunt. We go from pile to pile together checking every order in progress eventually pulling Katie and Jane into our frenzied search. Now four people are scouring every bin, every drawer, every surface for this customers prints like fire ants raiding a honey jar. When I realize that someone has simply extended the C bin back one column because of the overflow of orders I announce "Here it is!". Then, I turn around avoiding the menacing stares of my co-workers who have all dropped what they're doing to help me. For a moment I'm the store leper. I don't make eye contact with Jane for the rest of the shift.

At the end of the night Tammy is still in the store, much past her scheduled out time. Some customers are in the far corner of the store looking at frames. The clock strikes nine pm and she gives me the nod. I begin to chase them out of the store using our nighttime cleaning as a weapon, getting closer and closer with every annoying loud pass of the vacuum. Eventually they decide on a frame "Not what we wanted, but I guess, we'll have to settle. Now do you have a AAA discount?"