Is it just me, or in the past month have there been a shedload of Pit threads wherein an OP completely over-reacts to some trivial event in their real lives (usually in a store or restaurant) and goes ballistic in defening their (re)actions? I’m thinking of the Denny’s credit card thread and (especially) the Open Mic night thread. Meltdowns in the making, every one of them. Hot stock tip: invest in anger management counseling firms.
Did it not occur to you that you were invading her personal space? I would have also asked you to step back.
[Nitpick]
No it isn’t. Waldenbooks is run by Borders Group, who runs Borders and Brentanos. Barnes and Noble runs B. Dalton and Scribner’s.
Bosda, a friend of mine used to be a bank teller until she was robbed in broad daylight at gunpoint. It has made her very skittish about people, you know? And women sometimes have a healthy fear about men anyway because they’ve been involved with a man who WOULD hurt a fly and would do it cheerfully.
So maybe the clerk has a really good reason for mistrusting strangers. And it truly is nothing personal.
Oh, and BTW, it’s considered rude to wear mirrored sunglasses when you’re conversing with someone. Be a gentleman next time and and take them off so that she can make eye contact with you.
Shoot, you’re right. I got B. Dalton’s confused with Waldenbooks (not a difficult thing to do). But my main point is still sound: the OP should order his books online and thus save bother for himself and spare the hapless clerks from being creeped out by an intrusive jackass.
Drastic, I’m cryin’ ovah heah. With laughter.
But are you sure you don’t mean Bad Leroy Brown?
Bosdababy, you’re a good man for admitting you overreacted.
You were wearing mirrored sunglasses in the store? I have to admit that I would feel a little uncomfortable around a stranger wearing sunglasses inside…
Was she truly rude? Did she say it in a disgusted tone of voice or something? Because otherwise, I would think that she was just being assertive. She could have hoped that you would notice her body language; IMHO that’s infinitely more rude. Some people have larger personal spaces than others. Mine is rather small; I will sometimes touch people when I talk to them. I appreciate it when someone says, “I feel uncomfortable when you touch me.” It’s a little embarrassing but at least I’m not making them uncomfortable anymore.
I work in a Photo Dark Room, developing prints all day, Gazelle . I’ve done this for 7 years. So, when I go outside at noon, I usually use sunglasses. It’s too bright out, you know?
And yes, she used an unpleasant tone, & a judgemental sneer on her face. So yes, I’m P.O.ed.
BTW–I didn’t go behind the counter–just off to the side. There was one of those little swinging gates there between us.
I hear you on your reason for wearing sunglasses… Good reason.
She had an unpleasant tone and judgemental sneer? Then I agree with you; don’t go back. She’s a bitch.
Just curious: If she had said it in a nice way, would you have been okay with that?
She wouldn’t have been rude, it’s true, but it still would have been a problem.
From my OP–
54 separate items in all, with hundreds of possible combinations. Sorting it out without seeing the screen would take more than a hour–I had 15 minutes left of my lunch. And I live more than 30 miles from this store.
Okay, sorry to make you repeat yourself. I see your point.
She has issues.
And I guess I do too.
But you’re something special, Gazelle. 
Naw, not these days. Lately, he’s been looking like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple pieces gone.
<hijack>
I do this a lot. But it is more out of professional interest than to get the “goods” on the store. As an programmer analyst, I am always looking at other user interfaces to see how other apps are written, how they use the app, why the hell do they need 475 keystrokes to buy one item, that sort of thing. I am also interested in what information should be on a sales screen, why do they show profit margins to the clerk, is the clerkcutting and pasting my credit card number to notepad for later use, etc…
Maybe she sensed your inner rage, or the bookstore installed electronic Jerkdar behind the counter. I’d say your inability to offer a friendly explanation to set the girl at ease, instead choosing to have min-tantrum, is evidence she probably had every reason to get creeped out by you. Hell, you creep me out. Do you mind sitting back a little farther from the monitor?
“We’ve replaced the gourmet coffee he normally drinks with Folger’s crystal meth. Let’s see what happens.”
100% agreed. But I developed a way of fighting back…
I used to work at an auto parts store. Whenever I would run upstairs to get a part, I would come back down to see some bastard bent way over the counter, looking at the terminal screen. It pissed me off. Dunno why, it just did.
Anyway, our new terminals ran Windows and had internet access. So then, whenever I had to leave the customer alone, I would alt-tab to a suitable webpage, leaving it on the screen for them to see, should they choose to look. The webpage used is better left unsaid, but it rhymed with moatsex.
The best part is coming back downstairs and billing it out as if everything was perfectly normal
-Joey G
Total Bastard
Oh Bosda! You made my day!
Big hugs to you, my friend. :o
I used to work retail. I worked at Waldenbooks, in fact. If your store is anything like ours, the cashwrap is like a little fort: it’s closed off on three sides and most of the fourth side is closed as well. It might be on a little platform, and it probably doesn’t have a gate to keep customers out of the area. If your store is like 80% of the other Waldens, the lookup computer is directly next to the cashwrap access portal (doesn’t that sound cooler than “gap between end of counter and the wall?”).
There might not be a gate keeping non-employees from entering Fort Cashwrap, but believe me, there is a Line. The employees know where it is. 99% of the customers know where it is. It extends from the end of the counter to the wall with the “Coming Soon” notices behind the registers. Anything past that–and this includes the entrance “corridor” created by the counter upon which the computer sits–is Employees Only Territory.
You are a customer. You do not cross that Line. For a woman alone in the store and a less-than-jumpin’ time (noon on a weekday? there probably weren’t other people around to see what was going on, were there?), having a relative stranger cross The Line is creepy. She may or may not have trust and space issues.
Some employees have greater fear and respect for The Line than others. That’s their lookout; there are loss prevention issues involved with letting a customer cross The Line (many stores keep special orders or oversized books very close to the step up to Fort Cashwrap).
But for some people, the line between Employee Space and Customer Space is well-defined and they don’t like to have it crossed. I was like that; I love books and I don’t mind working with people–I did it all the time when I left the cashwrap and shelved and helped people find books. But when I was in Fort Cashwrap, I had a very “this is your space, this is my space” feeling. I know I wasn’t alone in that, because other employees would complain about customers who came up to the side of the counter.
As for your concerns about finding your book without seeing the screen itsself, it can be done. The employee says, “I don’t see that, but there’s blah, de blah, and de blah de blah.” Then you say, “Try looking under blah blah blah blah. It’s hit-and-miss sometimes when different people catalogue it.” Repeat as necessary. Unless it’s an employee’s first week, they’re old hands at approaching a book search from multiple angles.
In summary, many booksellers are bothered by the Crossing of The Line. Try to avoid it unless you have direct permission; try asking–it helps when entering someone else’s territory. If they say no, the world will not end and you will still get your book.
Get over yourself. You said in your OP that she was a new employee, and had only been there for three months. Why are you so fucking special that out of the hundreds of people she deals with on a daily basis, she has to recognize you?
You stupid, arrogant, IwantsobadlytohavepeoplefearmebecauseIwearblackandamevil jagoff!