Well, I missed posting on Wednesday. It was a long day complicated by the fact that it was medication day and it always kind of zonks me just a bit.

Work was relatively simple but we are painfully understaffed and this is causing some problems. I just don't understand how pinheads who have obviously have never worked in a store can run one. Oh yeah, they are running it into the ground and are causing us to get taken over. The bastards.

They are running our once nice department store into the ground. No staff. No supplies, and not a lot of merchandise to sell. Doesn't matter really because if things keep going the way they are going we won't have any customers to sell anything to.

I love retail -- I truly do. I've worked at a couple of retail jobs and they have all been the same. Nobody can have two weeks vacation in a row. You get a three day weekend once every three weeks and should be thankful for that because it's asking too much to take a personal day along with it. You should be happy you get three days off once every three weeks. You want to take a personal day on Sunday? No way. We are understaffed and need you. Well, that is precisely why I might want to take a personal day! They say "You know we have so many call-outs on the weekend, we need you!" That's not my problem. Fire the serial no-shows. Crack the whip on the people who don't work -- not the ones who are there every day working their butts off.

It's as if they want you to quit. Make it as hard as possible.

I really don't want to get started about the pinheads who sit in some office building far, far away and control our air conditioning. Puh-leeze. Or the guy next to them who says the crystal department must have tie and glove boxes at the wrapstands. WTH?


Or the people who have never worked in a store make a decision that every piece of stemware should come out of its box and be put on display. Remember you are understaffed and you have nothing but a tie box to put those 8 wine glasses into so the customer can leave the store without breaking them. Meanwhile, you have eight people waiting to ask you where luggage is... Customer service... The bathrooms? Not to mention some of them actually want you to sell them something. But no, you are too busy looking for a box to put those crystal stems in.

And that was a Monday. Saturdays are much worse. Yet we do it. Because we like it.

I do like it. For the most part the customers are nice and it is fun helping them pick out china, crystal and silverware. They are so excited with the thoughts of all the dinner parties they will have or how it will look on display in their hutch.

And then there are the lighter moments like when the bride purchased two bud vases to use as her toasting glasses for her wedding. Whatever. We do like people to be creative.

And then there's poor dumb me who blamed her mother for losing the soup bowls to my china after she stored it for years and years. It wasn't until I went to work in the china department (and mom was long gone) that I realized I probably never had any soup bowls to begin with because soup bowls are generally purchased separately.

I probably shouldn't complain so much, my department has some great workers and the ones who aren't great workers, are genuinely nice people. Everyone pretty much shows up and does what they are supposed to do. Some better than others.



I really shouldn't complain so much, I have a job. I work with fun people. And it could be much worse...

...I could be hanging up clothes for a living. Thank God I don't sell clothes.