Oh there's an idea!

Dear Harlot thinks we should all call in sick to sit around in our jammies, drinking tea and knitting. Now in my case it would be coffee, but I'm all for the idea. Maybe that's what I shall do when I am unemployed *g*

And the number one reason I hate retail is...

The people. Pure and simple. Most people are fine, but some people just make you want to slap them, or worse.

The other day for example. We are closing. There are bright yellow, large print signs up in several places throughout the store stating this and that all sales are final. And there are at least two signs right on the counter by the registers, and another on the pillar next to the register, just in case you missed the fact.

So a woman comes up to the counter with her things and E rings her up. The woman signs the credit card slip and starts to walk away when something obviously finally begins to register in her tiny little brain. She comes back, gets right in E's face and says, "All sales final? What do you mean? Does this mean if I change my mind and want the larger set that I can't come back and change it? That's shitty." And goes on in the same vein, not actually allowing E to speak.

The woman points to the signs on the counter. The one which reads "Returns and Exchanges" in large letters at the top and ALL SALES FINAL in large bold text at the bottom. In between it says that all sales after 12/4/07 are final. Items bought prior to that date may be returned or exchanged with a dated receipt until 12/16/07. But of course, this woman only reads the part she wants to read, which is the first line. E finally gets to speak and calmly reads the entire sign. With a few more swear words the woman stomps out.

An hour later the phone rings. I answer and it's that woman. She begins immediately yelling at me about our shitty policy and states that she's calling her bank and canceling the charge and she'll bring back our crap and dump it in front of the store. Now I am thinking, a) You signed the charge slip, agreeing to the charge. The bank can't do anything, and b) it was a debit, which means her account has already had the money electronically removed anyway.

But I say, "I'm sorry ma'am, but we do have big yellow signs clearly stating all sales final throughout the store. That is our policy and we have to uphold it."

She starts spewing at me again, finally ending with her favorite phrase, "That's shitty." I again politely apologize, but in my head I am getting heartily sick of her poison. And that's when it really got ugly. She then informed me, "then I'll call your district and get your ass in trouble, fucking bitch S___!"

That's when I said, "Oh you're nice." And hung up.

Get my ass in trouble. *Snort* She's not the brightest crayon in the box. What part of store closing, out of a job does she not understand? Oh and by the way, I don't have a district any longer, I have a liquidator who is responsible for my return policy, try and contact him. Call and complain to corporate. They've shut the door on us and hung us out to dry already.

But neither I nor E need to put up with behavior like that. All the woman had to do was be nice about it. Had she not immediately begun spewing vitriol at E. and instead had nicely said, "Oh, I didn't realize that all sales were final. I'm not really sure this is the set I want after all. May I return it and think about it for a while?" And I can promise you E would have said, "Absolutely." And we'd have bent the policy. But you can't scream at someone and then expect them to turn around and put their ass on the line for you.

Holiday Baking List

Even though my Christmas spirit flew out the window recently, I need to try and keep things wonderful for DD. Which means following traditions such as baking cookies.

Apparently my brother in law hates turkey. So I guess I won't buy one for dinner this year. No point, as we can't eat the whole thing, just DH and I. That's one tradition that will have to change.

And because of that, I shall make him join in the cookie making *smile*

I want to try Stained Glass cookies this year. I think they look lovely. And I think that B-i-L and DD will have a grand time with them, haha.

We will likely make regular cut out cookies this year as well. I will cheat on both of these cookies and buy the dough in sheets.

We made peppermint bark last year, and while the ladies at work loved it, we didn't eat a lot of it at home (I was trying to be good and it was too minty for DD). We also made Peppermint Patties, but really, they were soooo messy.

K has a recipe for microwave caramels that were just delicious, so I will try to get the recipe out of her (I asked, but she, like the rest of us, has a lot on her mind right now).

I do think I need to find something with chocolate, as B-i-L loves chocolate as much as his brother, haha.

The rest of the story

Ok, so our former Regional still has 6 locations, she's not doing too badly after all.

But all in all they are closing 30 locations, mostly west of the Mississippi. That's roughly half of all our locations. Of that number, 27 are our company, with 3 being our sister company. That leaves us with 8 locations left in the U.S., while our sister company retains almost all theirs. Favoritism, much?

As of Sunday we became the ugly step-children of the bunch. Left to twist at the hands of a liquidation company, of which we have three total reps for all 30 locations, so we will likely not even see that rep much.

I have however, decided to try and remain until the end, solely because of the severance package. We will each receive a month's pay, plus pay for all unused paid time off. At the end, we become eligible for unemployment, which will actually get me through until we decide where the hell we are going in June. So I'll be a stay at home Mom for a few months. I'll likely go stir crazy on my own during the day, but on the bright side, I'll get some knitting time ;) Maybe I will actually start my Flower Basket shawl.

Merry F-ing Christmas

I just found out about 30 minutes ago that corporate is closing us after the first of the year. Maybe 4 months. Whoopie.

Now mind you, I was planning on leaving this spring anyway. But now I have to find some kind of stop gap to get us through. No, I will not stay 'til the end. I feel bad saying that, because I hate leaving my boss, but I'm not working my fanny off for them for nothing.

And we aren't the only location that got the ax. Both Colorado locations are going. All the Texas ones except for one. Our Regional boss will likely lose her job, since she loses all but 3 of her locations.

Anyway, I'm off to eat dinner. Ciao.