Day Ten

Yesterday I let a lady use our store phone, unsafely dragging the phone line across the counters, to talk to her credit card company. Today she is back and brings me deserts in a freezer bag that she tells me she’s defrosted. I only try one, which was good but soppy. Frank swipes them and puts them in the back where he devours all of the rest before I can get to them.

Today the Sixty-year-old Swedish lady who has lost her mother is also back. She has been back multiple times for the funeral notices, trying to get a specific red from the printer. She has enraged the entire staff to the point where only Paula will talk to her, and she sits on a stool by the wall waiting for her.

One customer comes in with an antique photo album, which looks like it has seen some rot. “Is Tammy in?” he asks. We tell him no, that it’s her day off. “I want to get this scanned. Do YOU think you can do that?” he asks as he cradles it.

“Sure” I say as I open my hands to receive the album, “We can scan it here, or I can show you how to scan it.”

“Can Tammy scan it?” he pleaded.

“No, Tammy’s not here” I remind him.

“I’d really prefer Tammy to scan it.” he looks as me suspiciously.

“You could leave it here. And Tammy can scan it tomorrow” I suggest.
“I’ll come back when Tammy’s in”, he says as he starts to back away.

“Great!” I shout as he scurries to the exit.

In the afternoon, a customer at one of the kiosks motioned for assistance. She looks like a professional.

“What I’m gonna ask you, isn’t about the store” she said softly.

“Sure, OK”.
“I know I shouldn’t be asking for dating advice.”

“Right”

“Should I not be asking you for dating advice?” she asked.

            I looked around the store, it was full of customers, but this could make an impact on the monotony. “Shoot”, I shrugged.

“What if someone called you just because they were happy, would you think that was weird?” she looks at me pleadingly.

I look at her like she had stepped out of a seventh grade classroom. “The first rule of relationships is to respect yourself. Now, can I help you with something photo related?”

            Tonight a customer asks me to “discontinue” his order. I ask if he’s sure. He nods. I restart the order, losing the twenty minutes of work he’s been doing. Then he realizes he wanted me to place his order. He becomes visibly upset. I apologize but mention the word “discontinue” to him repeatedly until he calms down and proceeds to spend twenty minutes to redo his order. This time he finishes it himself.           

At the end of the shift Paula and Frank and I gather to talk trash about John. I have decided to let John take all my sales work. I maintain that my conscience benefits from not being a salesman, but Frank is against it because he thinks this will only inflate John’s ego more. Then Paula decides to vent about the Swedish lady for the next twenty minutes and we suffer the Swedish lady through her.

Tonight after work I tell my sister on the phone “to have a good one”, which is my line for departing customers.