So, the holidays are upon us
That's fantastic.......unless you work in retail.
I currently work in a pharmacy.......but I've been in worse situations......
Several years ago I worked for a company that you'd all know, their logo is a giant yellow price tag. That was by far the worst work experience of my life. And not just because of Black Friday.
I worked in the "media" department" meaning I was in the section with the CD's, DVD's and videogames.
Pretty much up my alley as far as knowledge goes.....
I was getting along ok for the first few months, these were items I was used to so selling wasn't really an issue. Carrying around a stupid binder (with selling techniques etc) and a "disc cleaner" was absolutely ridiculous as were the daily "chalk talks" if you worked in the morning. Basically they'd gather everyone in the store and either; a) show a video of proper sales techniques, b) promote the latest sales ad, c) show a video from our store of someone executing the proper sales techniques (I was so honored) or d) force everyone to do some sort of "team building" type of exercise that would make sophomore speech class look like easy street.
I'm not bitter. Really.
Well maybe a little bit.
Anyway, I worked a 12-12 shift at said retailer on a Black Friday and let me just tell you this, if you haven't seen or dreamed about the depths of hell then I'd love to give you a complete rundown of that day.
I had a customer ask which kind of Justin Timberlake TV they should buy.
I had a (drunk) customer ask what videogame I would recommend for him, because (as he put it) "I've been an awful father because of my cheating ways and I want to make it up to my son" He smelled like Jack Daniels. Awesome.
(BTW, I recommended a first-person shooter game.....just saying)
I had a customer argue with with me about why a PS2 game wouldn't work for an XBOX system.....that was fun.
There's more, but honestly if I re-hash it any more I will get upset.
And it's the holidays.
So I won't.
Did you get you flu shot yet?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Being a cat owner (sort of)
For the past few days we've been hosting my in-laws cat at our house while they're out of town.
Their cat, Tapio, has been a pretty good houseguest.
That being said, I still can't figure out cats.
I was around my sister's cat for several years when I still lived at home. This is not a very nice cat we're talking about. Of course, much of that may stem from the fact that I used to antagonize it constantly by teasing it, etc.
That cat really hated it when I would pick it up and twirl it around; I figured most babies liked it so why wouldn't a cat?
So anyway, Tapio is a different story.
Sometimes when he wants to play he'll meow, and when my wife or I will attempt to play with him he'll run away.
Sometimes he'll jump up into my wife's lap and lay down.....but while being petted his claws come out. To me that's just weird.
That being said, he's a good cat who has been an excellent houseguest these last few days and will be welcomed back not only at X-mas but any time after that as well.
So in closing I don't get cats, and since we aren't pet people I guess it really doesn't matter.
At least that keeps things interesting.
Their cat, Tapio, has been a pretty good houseguest.
That being said, I still can't figure out cats.
I was around my sister's cat for several years when I still lived at home. This is not a very nice cat we're talking about. Of course, much of that may stem from the fact that I used to antagonize it constantly by teasing it, etc.
That cat really hated it when I would pick it up and twirl it around; I figured most babies liked it so why wouldn't a cat?
So anyway, Tapio is a different story.
Sometimes when he wants to play he'll meow, and when my wife or I will attempt to play with him he'll run away.
Sometimes he'll jump up into my wife's lap and lay down.....but while being petted his claws come out. To me that's just weird.
That being said, he's a good cat who has been an excellent houseguest these last few days and will be welcomed back not only at X-mas but any time after that as well.
So in closing I don't get cats, and since we aren't pet people I guess it really doesn't matter.
At least that keeps things interesting.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Ahh, Mondays
Mondays at work are always fun.
There's always the customer (or 7) that calls 10-12 times about the rx that they've been trying to refill since Saturday ("What do you mean, if the Dr. has office hours on the weekend?")
There's always the customer that's upset about our hours on weekends, ("I thought you guys were open until 9 on weekends too!") even though they've been told several times what the weekend hours are. Oh, and the hours are also posted in at least 3 spots throughout the store.
There's always the massive amounts of Dr.'s calling in rx's, which is understandable since they (for the most part) weren't working over the weekend. Not that customers were aware of that.
There's always an awful crush of people coming in from 3:30-6. Always.
There's always a string of incredible problems/issues that come up, more so than any other day which is impressive.
Ahhh, Mondays
There's always the customer (or 7) that calls 10-12 times about the rx that they've been trying to refill since Saturday ("What do you mean, if the Dr. has office hours on the weekend?")
There's always the customer that's upset about our hours on weekends, ("I thought you guys were open until 9 on weekends too!") even though they've been told several times what the weekend hours are. Oh, and the hours are also posted in at least 3 spots throughout the store.
There's always the massive amounts of Dr.'s calling in rx's, which is understandable since they (for the most part) weren't working over the weekend. Not that customers were aware of that.
There's always an awful crush of people coming in from 3:30-6. Always.
There's always a string of incredible problems/issues that come up, more so than any other day which is impressive.
Ahhh, Mondays
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Random movie stuff
I've been watching a lot of movies this week as a way to pass the time with my wife out of town, here's what I've watched.....
1. Taxi Driver
I hadn't watched this movie in forever, it's on Blu-Ray now and I picked it up the other day and I'm glad I did. If you haven't seen this movie you're missing out on a classic, one of AFI's top 100 films of all time. I'm somewhat of a De Niro whore so I'm a bit biased but this film is tremendous.
2. The Green Hornet (2011)
This one was on the Starz channel and I decided to give it a shot. That was a mistake. I lasted about 20 minutes in before I realized all the negative reviews it received earlier this year were well deserved. I like Seth Rogen and all of his other films but this one is atrocious.
3. Bad Teacher
I enjoyed this movie. Cameron Diaz's character is pretty much the exact opposite of her character from There's Something About Mary in that she plays an incredible bitch who does not like people. Diaz plays a school teacher who is pretty much worse than any teacher you had growing up multiplied by 100. Her main goal in life is find a man who is rich (or has the potential to get rich) and marry him so she won't have to work ever again. Justin Timberlake and Jason Segal are also entertaining in their roles. If you like raunchy-type comedies this one's for you.
4. The Dark Knight
I recently purchased the new Batman video game Batman: Arkham City which is a fantastic game so far but while I was playing I had the urge to watch The Dark Knight for the 217th time (a rough estimate) so I did just that. It's probably the best movie on Blu-Ray that I've seen and it never gets old. No need to go into details as I'm sure most everyone reading this has seen it or at least knows a bit about it.
5. Mad Men season 2
I'm on season 2 right now and it's one of the best shows on TV. At some point I'll catch up although it may not be for awhile.
6. Boiler Room
One of my favorite movies ever, a good example of a movie that did terrible at the box office but has somewhat of a cult following since being released on DVD. Great story, a very good cast (even with Vin Diesel) and also a really good soundtrack as well. All around awesome.
I'm sure I'll be watching more movies in the next few days (like Horrible Bosses) so this may turn out to be a part 1 of 2.
1. Taxi Driver
I hadn't watched this movie in forever, it's on Blu-Ray now and I picked it up the other day and I'm glad I did. If you haven't seen this movie you're missing out on a classic, one of AFI's top 100 films of all time. I'm somewhat of a De Niro whore so I'm a bit biased but this film is tremendous.
2. The Green Hornet (2011)
This one was on the Starz channel and I decided to give it a shot. That was a mistake. I lasted about 20 minutes in before I realized all the negative reviews it received earlier this year were well deserved. I like Seth Rogen and all of his other films but this one is atrocious.
3. Bad Teacher
I enjoyed this movie. Cameron Diaz's character is pretty much the exact opposite of her character from There's Something About Mary in that she plays an incredible bitch who does not like people. Diaz plays a school teacher who is pretty much worse than any teacher you had growing up multiplied by 100. Her main goal in life is find a man who is rich (or has the potential to get rich) and marry him so she won't have to work ever again. Justin Timberlake and Jason Segal are also entertaining in their roles. If you like raunchy-type comedies this one's for you.
4. The Dark Knight
I recently purchased the new Batman video game Batman: Arkham City which is a fantastic game so far but while I was playing I had the urge to watch The Dark Knight for the 217th time (a rough estimate) so I did just that. It's probably the best movie on Blu-Ray that I've seen and it never gets old. No need to go into details as I'm sure most everyone reading this has seen it or at least knows a bit about it.
5. Mad Men season 2
I'm on season 2 right now and it's one of the best shows on TV. At some point I'll catch up although it may not be for awhile.
6. Boiler Room
One of my favorite movies ever, a good example of a movie that did terrible at the box office but has somewhat of a cult following since being released on DVD. Great story, a very good cast (even with Vin Diesel) and also a really good soundtrack as well. All around awesome.
I'm sure I'll be watching more movies in the next few days (like Horrible Bosses) so this may turn out to be a part 1 of 2.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Check this out
Just in case you weren't aware of this site.....
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/
Talk about a time sink.....you'll be laughing for hours
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/
Talk about a time sink.....you'll be laughing for hours
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Random Rants
These rants are completely random and not in any order.....
I dislike you New Facebook. I'm sure I'll get used to you eventually but right now we aren't cool.
If you are a patient of ours and you get between 7-15 different prescriptions every month (or every 3 months as the case may be) please don't stand at the counter, open your (large) bag of rx's and analyze each and every bottle like it's the Declaration of Independence. This upsets us, and more then likely if there's a mistake it's because you are anal and/or don't know how to order prescriptions properly.
Anytime Mother Nature wants to pick a lane I'll certainly give her the right away.
Watching the Bears play this past Monday night was the equivalent of having someone stand in front of you and constantly jam a screwdriver into your eye. And having heartburn at the same time. Seriously.
My lovely wife has to go back to TN this coming Monday; this time for 2 weeks. This is total hot garbage but on the plus side for her, she'll be able to get to a Waffle House this time which makes me insanely jealous.
I really hate having to go to our local grocery store. At any time of day there are only 1-3 cashiers open at a time, and it's usually only 1 or 2. This causes problems considering it's a fairly busy store and at times the checkout lines resemble going to a Costco on a Sunday. Oh and also, one of those cashiers talks to herself. So that's always nice.
Theo Epstein becoming the new GM of the Cubs makes me happy for a couple reasons. One, it's a good move for the Cubs and two, it hurts the Stupid Boston Red Sux (SBRS) which in turns helps the Yankees. Not that I think the Cubs will be going anywhere anytime soon but it's a start.
Whatever happened to those LiveStrong yellow bracelets? I bet Lance still wears his.....
Being 32 doesn't feel much different than 31. And that's ok, 31 was the best year ever.
Is it wrong that I really enjoyed Fast Five? The best movie in the series since the first one 10 years ago. Lots of action as usual, but the story this time around wasn't too horrible. Of course, if you've seen my movie collection you'd know that I don't have the highest of standards for movies as long as I'm entertained.
Pulling hard for the Brew Crew tonight in a must-win Game 4.
I dislike you New Facebook. I'm sure I'll get used to you eventually but right now we aren't cool.
If you are a patient of ours and you get between 7-15 different prescriptions every month (or every 3 months as the case may be) please don't stand at the counter, open your (large) bag of rx's and analyze each and every bottle like it's the Declaration of Independence. This upsets us, and more then likely if there's a mistake it's because you are anal and/or don't know how to order prescriptions properly.
Anytime Mother Nature wants to pick a lane I'll certainly give her the right away.
Watching the Bears play this past Monday night was the equivalent of having someone stand in front of you and constantly jam a screwdriver into your eye. And having heartburn at the same time. Seriously.
My lovely wife has to go back to TN this coming Monday; this time for 2 weeks. This is total hot garbage but on the plus side for her, she'll be able to get to a Waffle House this time which makes me insanely jealous.
I really hate having to go to our local grocery store. At any time of day there are only 1-3 cashiers open at a time, and it's usually only 1 or 2. This causes problems considering it's a fairly busy store and at times the checkout lines resemble going to a Costco on a Sunday. Oh and also, one of those cashiers talks to herself. So that's always nice.
Theo Epstein becoming the new GM of the Cubs makes me happy for a couple reasons. One, it's a good move for the Cubs and two, it hurts the Stupid Boston Red Sux (SBRS) which in turns helps the Yankees. Not that I think the Cubs will be going anywhere anytime soon but it's a start.
Whatever happened to those LiveStrong yellow bracelets? I bet Lance still wears his.....
Being 32 doesn't feel much different than 31. And that's ok, 31 was the best year ever.
Is it wrong that I really enjoyed Fast Five? The best movie in the series since the first one 10 years ago. Lots of action as usual, but the story this time around wasn't too horrible. Of course, if you've seen my movie collection you'd know that I don't have the highest of standards for movies as long as I'm entertained.
Pulling hard for the Brew Crew tonight in a must-win Game 4.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Why was it busy today?
I don't have an answer that question.
I really don't.
I don't ever remember a Columbus Day being as busy as is was today. Usually on holidays or "holidays" as I like to say (by using hand quotes) it's not too busy but today was ridiculous.
And the flu shots! Honestly, there were a lot of customers today who won the Bad Timing Award for wanting flu shots. There usually isn't a real good time as we're somewhat of a busy store but getting slammed during the afternoon rush and having to deal with people wanting shots isn't a great combination.
Oh well, another day another dollar.
Tomorrow will be better.
Famous last words.....
I really don't.
I don't ever remember a Columbus Day being as busy as is was today. Usually on holidays or "holidays" as I like to say (by using hand quotes) it's not too busy but today was ridiculous.
And the flu shots! Honestly, there were a lot of customers today who won the Bad Timing Award for wanting flu shots. There usually isn't a real good time as we're somewhat of a busy store but getting slammed during the afternoon rush and having to deal with people wanting shots isn't a great combination.
Oh well, another day another dollar.
Tomorrow will be better.
Famous last words.....
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