Well, as you can see from the Recent Purchases list lately, I’m not doing very well at keeping my New Year’s Resolution to Not Spend Any Money For A Year. Honestly, I didn’t really think I could do it, which is not a very good attitude to have, I know, but it is realistic. I must say, I have done a lot better this year, mostly because I’m forcing myself to go to the gym every night. The problem is when I’m on my period, like I am now, I just can’t go to the gym. The thought of going and working out is just so gross, I can’t stand it! So, I go back to my old routine of going to a fave restaurant, having a drink and a snack, then going shopping. Tuesday it was CDs and DVDs (see side bar). Last night it was electronics stuff. I bought the digital camera I talked about yesterday, plus a computer screen filter for my home machine. I thought about, but decided against getting a new printer, but even so, it was an expensive evening at Staples!

While I was waiting in the check out line with my purchases, there was a man attempting to return a non-functioning Palm Pilot he’d purchased around Christmas time last year. He was a nicely dressed, well behaved, business-type man, who quietly, but firmly asserted himself with the Stapes Store Manager. Apparently he’d called the Palm Pilot people who told him to take it back to the store he’d purchased it at for a replacement. The Staples Manager told him they don’t do returns after 30 days (or something like that. They were talking quietly beside the register where I was waiting in line with my purchases, and to be honest, I had to strain a bit to hear them, and didn’t catch every word, but 30 days sounds reasonable to me. And, yeah, I’m an eavesdropper! So sue me! At least I have something to write about today!), and they couldn’t help him. The Business Man was upset, but remained calm, which I found oddly comforting. As much as I hate listening to people argue with sales people about returns, I hate the loud, shouting confrontations a lot more than the quiet, polite ones. The Business Man was persistent in trying to get the Store Manager to take the item back, but the Store Manager was just as persistent in not taking it back. The BM wanted to know if their return policy was printed somewhere on his receipt. The SM said it wasn’t, but that the policy was posted on the wall behind the row of cash registers, as well as posted on every cash register. Which it is. The BM was still upset and really wanted to return the item. The SM explained to him that their policy on returns is 30 days, and after that, they were sorry, but they couldn’t take items back. If they took every item back after the 30 days, they’d lose money, and eventually go out of business. The BM didn’t seem to care and quietly, but calmly, threatened to tell all his friends not to shop there if the SM didn’t take the item back. The SM stood his ground. The BM insisted he had a lot of influential friends, and would hurt the business by telling them what had transpired. The SM didn’t flinch. Finally the BM gave up, took his useless Palm Pilot, and left.

The whole thing took me back to my retail days when I had to deal with stupid, snooty customers like that. (Ok, that wasn’t really fair; BM was really quite polite, totally unlike most of the people I had to deal with.) It would annoy me to no end that people wouldn’t bother to find out the return policy of the store, or simply not bother to read the return policy that was posted by the cash register, or even bother to read the policy when it was printed on the back of the receipt. The latter was not the case here, I know, but even if the policy had been posted on the back of the receipt, I doubt the BM would’ve bothered even looking at it. Nothing against him, personally, that’s just the way customers are. Even though I wasn’t involved and it was totally civil and polite, the whole exchange raised my blood pressure several points! I very nearly had a panic attack! God, I’m so thankful I don’t have to do that horrible job any more!!!

It’s the second time this month I’ve had a Retail Flashback. I seriously don’t need this crap! Or, maybe I do. Maybe I need to be reminded of how awful retail is. How much I hated it. I do, sometimes, when I’m shopping, wax all nostalgic about when I used to work in retail (clothing rather than computers, but still retail is retail), sometimes really missing it, longing for it, wishing I was doing it again. I’ve been tempted a few times to get a second part-time job at Express or The Gap, not only for the extra money (and the clothing discount!), but because I think I would love it. That it would be so much fun, because it was so much fun before. Fortunately, when I start feeling that way, someone will start arguing with a store manager about some policy or other, raise a real stink about it, and then I remember how horrible it was. I remember how lucky I was to have the opportunity to go back to school to get my paralegal certificate, and embark on a new career! A career that, though boring sometimes, has good pay, great hours and benefits, weekends and holidays off, and best of all: Doesn’t include customer service! Thank you, thank you, thank you, God! Thank you for this great job and good life, and thanks for the gentle reminders that keep me from doing something stupid!