Scary Shoppers

Nothing is more frightening than working the day between holidays. For instance: the stores were open today, they were closed yesterday, and they're going to be closed tomorrow... Today was officially crazy. On holidays, people are either mean or crazy... or both! I've probably only gotten 3 nice people today, all who I wanted to hug. The major thing I hate about working retail: people don't care! Especially when they've only got a 13 hour span in 3 days to go shopping. Really though; it's the Easter holiday! If you're going to come into town and shop, at least be nice about it!

Now I obviously don't mean "everyone" when I say "people", cause there are definitely some super nice people out there who go out of their way to be nice. But as for the crazy people; well I'll give you an example.

I work with this one lady who is in her early 50's. She's super nice, and I'm always teasing her and telling her she's my work mother, cause she pretty much is. (she will be yellow, he's orange) This man came up to her looking for a spark plug, but the numbers on it didn't match up to the ones we had, so it was obvious he got it from another store. She asked him, "Can you tell me what this is from?" He replied, "Well its from here!" "Yes I know sir, but is it from a lawn mower, chain saw...?" "Lawnmower..." "Okay, do you know what model it is?" *pointing to the displays* "Well its one of those..." "Yes, but is is Yard Works, Jobmate, Troy-Bilt?" "I honestly don't think you want to help me! I'm f**kin telling you that its one of those mowers and you're not f**king doing anything to f**kin help me!" "Sir, calm down. It's just that I can't get you the right spark plug if I don't know what model it is. Certain plugs go to certain machines." "This is f**kin bull shit! You don't want to help me!" and then he slumps off mumbling curse words under his breath.

Now really... why on earth she would continue with a person like that, I don't know. Its just the type of person she is. Still, people have no right to talk to us like that, but they think we are there to simply fulfill their orders and slave over them. Well, here's the harsh reality; we're not.

The day went on and on with people yelling about products, people, placings, prices, and any other things they could think of. The pathetic thing is; basically everyone was yelling about completely stupid stuff that didn't make sense to anyone.

For anyone who doesn't understand or has never worked retail, here are a few tips:

1. We are NOT mind readers. We don't know what "that pink thing" on T.V.is. Be more specific.

2. Be nice to us, we'll be nice to you. If you're going to sit there and yell over something stupid, you lose all respect from us and make a fool out of yourself in the process.

3. Don't whistle, snap your fingers, or yell to get our attention. Whenever a guy/girl snaps or whistles at me, they get "Sorry, no dogs allowed in the store, gonna have to ask you to leave" for an answer.

4. Don't order us around! We aren't your slaves! Be nice! Say "please" and "Thank you" and we're probably going to be super nice right back.

So that was my rant for the day. I'm telling you, retail staff is definitely over worked, under paid, and poorly treated.

Until next time,

Live, Laugh, Love,

-Missy A

**and for those of you who guessed it from the picture, I do, indeed, work at a Canadian Tire.

Bullying in High Schools

I was talking to a lady today about a problem her daughter has in High School and I thought I should share my thoughts on this issue. To begin this post though, I'll have to go back a few years... back to grade 3.

This girl, we shall call "Jane" went to a certain elementary school up to grade 3 where she was bullied by another girl who shall be called "Sally". Sally didn't have a good reason to hate Jane but she did, and Jane transferred schools because she felt threatened by her. Now both Jane and Sally are in High School, and haven't seen each other since.

Jane just transferred High Schools -as the new one is much closer to her home- and discovered that Sally goes there. As soon as Sally found out about Jane, she immediately gathered a group of friends and started to tell them about Jane, and how much Sally hated her. (Keep in mind, Jane did nothing and has been trying to avoid her). Now Jane's boyfriend has fallen victim to Sally and her friends. Every time he walks by, they yell names at him and give him the finger.

One day after much harassment from Sally and her friends, Jane got fed up and decided to take a stand. She turned around and yelled "Shut up you slut!" and turned back around. Later that day Sally came up behind Jane and punched her in the back of the head and yelled "Once you're alone, I'll get you, and I'll get you good!". Because of this, Jane has been scared to death to go back to school because she is afraid that if her boyfriend isn't with her or her friends aren't with her at a particular time then she might get the snot kicked out of her by Sally.

I am no longer in High School, and have never honestly seen this type of behavior since middle school (back then it was all talk, now I'm not too sure). I can't even begin to believe what on earth would make a couple of 16 year-olds do something so stupid and over basically nothing! The major part I don't understand is Sally can threaten, yell at, and bully Jane and everything is well and good, but the one time; I repeat ONE TIME Jane talks back her life is automatically threatened. Jane hasn't been back to school yet and it has been about a week. She has been having severe headaches since Sally punched her and is worried that she has a concussion. They are now talking to the school about it in hopes Sally will receive a suspension.

"Pink Shirt Day" is coming up soon on Wednesday, April 14th. This day was created by a couple of male students who wore pink shirts to school after they witnessed an exchange student being bullied because he wore a pink shirt. This has become a strong symbol against bullying and I am a strong believer in standing up for the underdog and trying to prevent bullying.

The story about Jane and Sally is true. I know this post probably sounds a bit preachy but I feel so bad about Jane I just can't help but do my part and spread some awareness. So, to everyone out there, wear a pink shirt on April 14th and show everyone what you stand for.

Until next time,

Live, Love, Laugh

-Missy A

**For those interested, you can purchase official "Pink Shirt Day" shirts at: http://shop.pinkshirtday.ca/