After attending college for a year, I decided to make the very mature decision to work over the summer before going back to school. I got a job at a music and entertainment store I didn’t have to commute far to. During my first month of working in retail, I have encountered very many types of people and have been tossed into very many questionable and unsettling situations. Here are just a few (the last one is the best).
- I attempted to speak Spanish to a customer who spoke little to no English. While I may be a double international business and Spanish major, I am not yet good enough at the language to speak it at work. I went to ask the customer if he would be interested in adding a warranty to the speakers he was buying when he informed me that he doesn’t speak English. When I tried to piece together the Spanish I’ve learned in school over the years, I blanked. I proceeded to smile, nod and explain the conditions of the warranty in slower English before I realized that it wasn’t going to help. At this point I am embarrassed at how many years of Spanish I’ve taken and how terribly I could transfer it into real life. I was able to tell the customer that I only speak very little Spanish and that was because I only speak it at school, and it’s summer now. The frustration I had with myself paired with the confusion of the customer as he tried to comprehend my broken and probably completely misconjugated Spanish made for a very awkward ending, which included him saying, “Bye,” and me replying with, “Adios,” not realizing he was using English.
- A girl sat on a shelf full of glass bottles. To this day, no one working in the store can figure out how this girl did what she did, but we do feel very lucky that it didn’t end in disaster. One day, near the checkout line, a girl managed to sit on a shelf suspended by hooks in the wall; its surface was filled with Japanese soda bottles. These bottles are made of glass and are very thick. The shelf, of course not built to bear the weight of an 8 to 10 year old girl in addition to three dozen glass bottles, flipped forward, projecting the bottles toward the ground and sending the little girl down with them. The wall was broken, our hearts were broken and the sound of the glass bottles crashing together sent a jolt of fear and confusion through every ear within shot. Luckily, none of the bottles broke, and the girl walked away without being hurt badly.
- An elderly couple sent us on a wild goose chase. An adorable elderly couple came into the store one day and asked us so find a movie for them. This is a very frequent occurrence, and anyone in the store is glad to help. The title the couple wanted us to search for was "Saviors of the Universe." One of my coworkers knew of a movie by that name and retrieved it when the couple told us that it wasn’t the right one, and the movie they want came out pretty recently and was about space or something of the like. After searching our special order website and anywhere it could possibly be in the store, the woman turns to us as says, “There’s an opossum or raccoon in it!” While still very puzzled, all the assisting associates hear a man from a few aisles over say, “Do they mean 'Guardians of the Galaxy?'” After hearing this, it looked like we’d all reached enlightenment and sighed, “Oooohhhhh, 'Guardians of the Galaxy!'” Of course, since the store wasn’t too busy at the time, we thought it was funny but had we looked for a movie under the wrong title for 20 minutes with a line at the registers and a ton of shipment to put out, we would not have found it as amusing.
- A drenched man threatened to beat up Jesus in order to take my managers soul. Not too long ago, a man, drenched in his own sweat (light grey shirt turned dark grey and all), came into the store from an air-conditioned mall on an 85 degree day. I’m not sure why the man was so sweaty, but that’s none of my business anyway. I watched him stare at my manager around the corner of an aisle while she was having a conversation. Once she realized she was being watched, she asked the gentleman if he needed help with something to which he replied, “No I just need your soul.” To keep things light in this extremely uncomfortable encounter my manager responded with, “I’m sorry sir, but I already gave it to Jesus.” The man, who may or may not have been joking, then said, “Well I guess I’ll have to beat him up to get it then won’t I?” At this point, no one witnessing knew what to do or say, and I don’t think there will ever be a response to something like that. Someone did summon her to another part of the store saving her from whatever was about to happen next, luckily.
Many other strange altercations and occurrences have happened at work, but these are just a few. While occasionally frustrating and tiring, working in retail can truly be a gem for good stories. Greatly recommended!
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