#talesfromretail

[soleyjararts-blog]

B A R I S T A 

Comic #2

always looking for that inner peace

[thecaffeinatedsunflower]

Retail Purgatory

Canuck Auto is a staple of Canadian culture, right up there with Tim Hortons and maple syrup. It is the prime spot for all your vehicular, home and hardware needs—at least that’s what the advertisements will tell you. Every Canuck Auto location looks about the same; it is your standard big box department store organized by the different sections so that “the valued customer always knows what to expect!” If you are an employee at Canuck Auto, you can expect it to be arid and extremely cold in the store. If you are an employee, long sleeves and a decent hand moisturizer are essential investments. The store is illuminated by innumerable rows of aluminum lighting, and it permanently smells like rubber and dust (add ibuprofen to the list of employee necessities). There are no windows in the building, save for the glass of the entrance and the exit, so when it is morning it could very well be night and vice versa. Sometimes smug housewives gleefully comment on how beautiful of a day it is outside, but it doesn’t really matter what time of day it is or what the weather is like. All of that is interchangeable when you spend most of your waking life within the confines of the store. Days, weeks, months...years, they all ooze and blend together like fruit in a Ninja blender (Housewares, Aisle 17).  

The store opens at 8 and the first shoppers stumble inside. It doesn’t get busy until after lunchtime, and resisting the urge to watch the clock becomes an acute test of strength. Most customers are nice enough, though most only want to purchase their things and get the hell out. Some do not even acknowledge the existence of the cashier, and it’s easy to feel insignificant. Afterall, who really remembers the lowly cashier that served them for but a few moments in their otherwise busy life? Not many.  

As lunchtime arrives and it gets busier, a line begins to accumulate at the checkout, and it's very reminiscent of an assembly line at a factory. Everyone gets fed the same spiel, every interaction is more or less the same. Debit or credit? Do you have a rewards card? Would you like a bag?  

A lot of the store’s clientele are carpenters and handymen. Some make cheeky comments. It could all be in good jest, but it’s more likely that there is a sleazy undertone to their flirty remarks. Years spent at Canuck Auto and similar stores have a tendency to make one jaded and cynical. As a retail worker you saw the best and worst of humanity, emphasis on the worst.  

A rotund, middle aged woman with glasses waddles up to the counter. Her face is already crimson with disdain, and she is very displeased at being made to wait a staggering five minutes. There has been a price discrepancy with an item she recently purchased and she rudely demands to see the manager. During the wait for him to arrive, she complains about how much of a hurry she is in, how the store policy is nonsensical, and how rudimental making a return should be. “It’s really not that hard.” She sneers. When the manager finally arrives, he pretends to be friendly but is clearly apathetic and impatient. He adjusts the price accordingly because the easiest thing to do is give the angry woman what she wants. God forbid she leave a bad google review about the store. She smiles triumphantly for a second, but then her eyes narrow at the wicked cashier, who greatly inconvenienced her by needing to call for management. “You should really think about having a better attitude, hon. As a retail worker you should be spreading a message of positivity and cheer.”  She shuffles toward the exit.  

When 5:00 pm finally rolls around, the wave of energy that passes between the employees is now ebullient. It is home time at last. Everyone punches out with a smile on their face, and they wave their goodbyes. Temporarily and willfully forgetting that they will be here tomorrow at 8:00 am, to do it all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat.  

[turtle-always-win]

Food City

I'm already on my way out of this job, so I just wanted to let you know I found a box full of bbq vienna sausages that was a literal breeding ground for gnats. I seriously gagged at the NEST of maggots all inside the box, and so did my supervisor. It looked like I was doing the broodmother quest in Dragon Age Origins. My supervisor gingerly pulled out the two packages in the box that weren't immediately recognised as a catalyst, shook the remaining maggots off, and told me to put them on the shelves. Since they were wrapped in plastic there was no way for him to know they weren't contaminated, and the other boxes I was handling weren't checked. It also caused a gnat infestation for over a week and spoiled produce... I don't shop there anymore.

[demotoday]

Sudden Racism

I was helping a nice older customer find his product. When he found it he looked to me and in the sweetest tone of compliment shocked me with a vile racist slur. "She was right, I asked this sweet Lamanite girl and she said it was back here."

Statistically, most readers who stumble upon my work blog won't be familiar with this particular slur as it is used exclusively by Mormons and is only meant to refer to First Nations people (aka Indians or Native Americans). I happen to live and work in a highly Mormon community. I was raised Mormon and I still remember the hate and racism of the word Lamanite.

In Mormonism, Laman was one of the rebellious brothers of Nephi (knEE-fy, not neh-fEE) who came to the Americas from Isreal and rejected the Word of God. Throughout the Book of Mormon the wicked descendants of Laman and Lemuel (the Lamanites) would slaughter and enslave the righteous descendants of Nephi and Sam (the Nephites). The Lamanites were basically gods beating stick to keep the Nephites righteous. Even to the point that near the end of the book the Lamanites wipe out the Nephites leaving the Lamanites alone in the Americas.

For their wickedness the Lamanites were cursed with 'a skin of darkness.' Most Christian religions claim that black people 'bare the mark of cain' well Mormons had to explain how Israelites became 'Injuns'.

Many Mormons felt justified in killing Indians and taking their lands because they were Lamanites.

This is a label that most Native Americans flately reject because a) it's wrong, literally wrong, the genetics are quite clear on this fact, b) the history of racism and violence behind it, and c) they claim their own tribal or group identities.

So to randomly call someone a Lamanite, even during a compliment, is really bad.

What's worse, I know who he was referring to, she's not even Native American. He's just broadly applying the term to anyone who's darker, but not negroid. So he's even wrong in the application of his racism.

Just a reminder that racism is alive and well in Mormonism.

[unlikelybutterflies-blog]

When Bobby made a crappy pun.