Vendor Representatives

I like 90% of our vendor representatives; most visit the store monthly. Others come quarterly or once or twice a year or only when business is down. Their job is to put out coupons or signs drawing attention to their products, make sure we're displaying their items correctly, check expiration dates, report inventory problems, check for price tags, inform us about new products, and answer any questions or concerns we might have.

Today one of my favorite vendors was in. We've been working together, as in an hour once a month, for probably six years or so. While we don't work for the same company or see each other much, she's someone I could imagine myself working with/for. She's extremely conscientious with her work and despite our vast age difference she's not at all condescending or paternalistic like some people I've worked with/for.

I was exceptionally bored today (few customers, no paperwork, no projects, no stocking, everything was clean.....there was NOTHING to do). Since what she was doing wasn't something that I could help with, I hung around while she did her thing. We talked more than normal. It was clear that she was having a bad day, yet she was still professional and friendly. It sounds like she's overworked, although she didn't get into details about whatever's going on with that company. Sharing their issues wouldn't help the situation, so why be all negative about it? This is a lesson that I've mostly learned but am still working on at times.

Last week a different vendor mentioned problems he was having with our main competitor. I started to (wanted to) say something along the lines of, "And you're surprised? That's nothing new, they've always been bad at that," etc. But I bit my tongue. Criticizing Competitor would accomplish nothing. Instead I said, "Yeah? (long pause as I thought).....I'd better not comment on that." He laughed, I laughed, I didn't have to say it because we both knew it......Competitor sucks and we're great. Everyone knows that. There's no reason for me to rub it in or bad-mouth Competitor. They take care of that all by themselves. When customers say something about the poor service or high prices or whatever at Competitor, I say little. "I've heard that." "Hmm."

666

The whole thing of people being afraid of 6/6/6 is STUPID. Not wanting a total or change of $6.66.....STUPID. Not wanting to live at 666 Main Street......STUPID. Not wanting your child to be born on 6/6/6 because you're afraid he'll be "cursed"....STUPID.

People are misinterpreting Revelations. They're taking it literally when it wasn't meant that way. The whole book is an allegory, like Pilgrim's Progress or 1984. They're not to be taken literally. They're full of images and symbols and if John worked for me I think I'd be sending him on a drug test.

Revelations was written in the 1st century when Nero was persecuting practically everybody, but especially Christians. Could they write a book/letter about how terrible Nero was? Not if they wanted to live. Instead they wrote a "book of prophecy" with the devil's son as the main character. Nero's name in their system or their code or whatever came to "666."

For those who think that this date is the beginning of the end or the anti-Christ will be born today or something along those lines: "No one knows about that day or hour.......only the Father.........Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:36-42)

With all of that said, today WAS, indeed, a wacky day with craziness everywhere and I'm glad it's over!

Out of School

With the kids out of school it's quite a bit louder at work these days. Busier during the week and slightly less busy on the weekends. Parents are already complaining that they have to take care of their kids instead of sending them off to school each day.

My high school employees can work almost any time and for as many hours as we want them (fewer child labor law limitations than during the school year), so the schedule is a lot easier to do.

While the vast majority of kids run around like idiots (yes, RUN, in the store, bumping into both merchandise and customers), there are a few whose parents attempt to control them. Today it went one step further and there were several polite kids who asked intelligent questions, were well-spoken, and waited their turn for help. Borderline old enough to be allowed to shop alone (parents in the car) but after seeing their behavior, obviously mature for their age.

One kid, perhaps 6 years old, was not old enough to shop alone. While he was well behaved, he lingered in the area where I was maintaining some displays. He began to share his life story with me, along with his opinion of our products and his plans for world domination. Finally his of-driving-age sister came and took him away, saving me and my ears. I'm a complete stranger.....that's not very safe for a kid that young.

WAIT YOUR TURN

NO ONE could wait their turn today! Four, maybe five times I was finishing up with a customer when another customer rudely interrupted.

• "Do you work here?"
• "Excuse me, I need some help."
• "Where are the widgets?"

I made a special point to ask the first customers if there was anything else they needed or if they had any more questions before turning to the RUDE PERSON to ask how I could help. I love how you can be totally polite while at the same time point out someone's rudeness. Most of the people today got my point. Because of the way I did it, they weren't mad, though.

WAIT YOUR TURN is a lesson not many adults know. They need to return to kindergarten because I don't see how they could have passed.

Graduations

It's June…..graduation season. A LOT of my employees are graduating from high school. That means they need A LOT of time off from work (and usually all of them on the same day!).

There's the baccalaureate, senior breakfast, day of graduation (hair/makeup, then the graduation, then the after party), then usually the day after graduation because, really, who waits until they're 21 to drink? So we're short staffed all week.

Now that it's the last week of school, teenagers have started coming in looking for summer jobs. Yeah, well, you're a little late! All the places that have summer positions have already filled them. In my store, as a general rule, I don't hire for summer-only positions. There's just too much to learn for an employee to be any good to me over the short 2~3 month break. I'll always let people apply, because it's retail………you never know when a position will open up.

We may have a few positions open later in the summer as the high school graduates move away for college. But right now, we're fully staffed.