This week, I've decided to cover the stupid questions and annoying things that customers ask and do. Like the last article, this should open your eyes and make you a better customer. One good thing about working somewhere like 7-11 is that you see what you hate most about customers, and you keep those things in mind. This makes you an ideal customer. Many of these annoyances and questions may seem stupid, but you may be surprised to know how many customers actually do and ask these things.
Question: "Where are the hot dog buns?"
Answer: If you want a hot dog, speak to the cashier. You must pay for it first, then the cashier will put the hot dog on a bun for you.
Question: "Can I have some matches?"
Answer: No. Many convenience stores give away matches, and our 7-11 used to do the same, but those days are over. I do not know exactly why this is, but the point is that 7-11 no longer gives out matches, so don't even ask.
Question: "Do you guys sell single Phillies or rolling papers?"
Answer: No. Some stores do, but this 7-11 does not. If you do not see it where the other cigars are, then it isn't sold.
Question: "Is it too late to buy beer?"
Answer: I covered this in the last article, but I cannot stress enough how annoying this question is. All you have to do is look at the clock above the drinks and see what time it is. If it is before midnight, the answer is no, it is not too late; if the clock says midnight or after, the answer is yes. This is NOT negotiable. This is because it is against the law in Virginia to buy or sell alcohol after midnight. You will have to find another store, or just wait until 6a.m. If you think the time is wrong, don't argue. 7-11 does not go by the time on your watch, and only the store manager can change the clock. And I promise you, he won't.
Question: "Do you have a bathroom?"
Answer: For employees, yes, for customers, no. 7-11 used to allow customers to use the restroom, but no longer. The reason is simply because if one customer steals from the store, then no one can be trusted. Use the grass in the parking lot if you have to; after all, that's what the cashier will recommend.
Question: "Why is it so cold in here?"
Answer: Some people believe it is so that the straight guys and homosexual ladies that work there can see the wonderful affect the cold has on female
customers, but that is only a myth. The truth is, the local store has no power over the air conditioning. Only the corporate office in Houston, Texas has this power. That should explain it well enough for you.
Annoyance: The credit/debit card touchpad.
Many customers do not seem to understand the credit/debit card touchpad that is in front of the cash register. In big bold letters, a sign reads, "PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH WITH FINGERS," and yet, to no surprise of mine, people use their fingers on it all the time. There is a touch-pen beside it which you are supposed to use when entering information. Please note, this pen is NOT an ink pen.
Annoyance: Toquitos
Many people don't seem to understand the Toquitos. The word sounds like taw-key-toes or tuh-key-toes. They are Go-Go Toquitos, but the "Go-Go" isn't important. They, like the hot dogs, are supposed to be ordered at the register. The cashier will assist you with them. Do NOT open the door to the grill and take them out yourself.
Annoyance: Theft
Theft does happen at 7-11. Our local store has not been robbed of money (and I wouldn't recommend trying), but people do try to steal items. People usually try to steal beer, but they also try to steal stupid things like Slurpees or donuts. It's a really stupid, inconsiderate thing to do. If you are caught, you will be busted and taken to court. In addition, when stores lose money due to stolen merchandise, prices may have to be raised in order to compensate for the difference of the loss.
Annoyance: Inside Smokers
In Virginia (and most of the country), smoking is not permitted in public places. Some places have smoking sections, but these are restaurants, not
convenience stores. If you cannot read the sign on the door that says "No Smoking," you need to go back to where you came from.
Annoyance: The Bank of 7-11
Despite what you may think, 7-11 is NOT a bank. There is a sign on the door that says that the cashier has less than $30 in the drawer, and I can verify that. Cashiers are not permitted to keep more than $30 in their drawers; therefore, they cannot break your $50 or $100, so don't even bother asking. Even a $20 is a big annoyance, and the cashier may not be able to break it for you. If you're going buy something, get some small change first and don't use $20s, $50s, or $100s; these bills are too large and it is rare that a cashier will allow you to purchase anything with them.
Also, 7-11 is NOT a change machine. They will not give you numerous dollars in quarters for laundry. They may give you $2 if you are lucky. If you need change, you must wait until the cashier has the drawer open, so either purchase something or be ready to wait for a customer to come along. Believe me, the cashier will make you wait.
If you think the employees are inconsiderate jerks, think again. Only a few of them are; everyone else is just following the rules that they've been given. Be patient with the cashier, and don't think that just because you're not white, the cashier is being a racist. No racists work at our 7-11.
Please keep this article in mind the next time you go to 7-11. It will make you a better customer, and you will have a much more pleasurable experience there.
Next week, I will give praise where it's due (and point out where it is lacking) to Radford's finest.
Responses:
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Name: Aaron
Comments:
To the anonymous poster, what does these have to do with this article. If you would like to write an article which has your name posted and is not an attack on RU Student Media as a whole they would be glad to publish it in the vent section, as would the newspaper. Anonymous postings are allowed, but just remember this, it's never anonymous when they have you IP address, so attacks on someones character could be considered slander if you get the right lawyer. :)
Name: Shaggy
Comments:
So Greg, tell me honestly: Did you ever act like you were in the movie "Clerks" when working there?
Name: anonymous
Comments:
I graduated from RU last spring, from the media studies department. Before leaving, I had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Kallahan, who used to be the advisor for student media. He told me lots of details as to why he was fired by Dr. Pomerantz, and also admitted he made some mistakes in the way he dealt with students and faculty.
But Mr. K did nothing to justify his removal from office. The truth is that he was fired because of cowards: Sandra Kelley and her sister Debbie Brown, Chelsea Adams, Rachel Thomason and Shaggy Kinback. These five people all felt threatened by Mr. K, who is a very experienced professional and who has an assertive management style. And all five made unproven accusations behind Mr. K”s back. While Kelley and Adams, both faculty advisors, never bothered to approach Mr. K about misunderstandings, Thomason and Kinback simply stabbed him in the back.
As for Debbie Brown, she is an assistant vice president who worked behind the scenes. She tried to get George Mendiola to change his mind about taking money away from ROC-TV. Brown also never approached Mr. K to discuss a single issue. She just took her sister Sandra”s word about matters and proceeded accordingly. Apparently, Brown and Pomerantz are good friends. Another way of putting this is that Pomerantz is controlled by Brown, who has been involved in other irregularities concerning people leaving this campus. For example, she fired Tammi Gardiner, the former director of alumni affairs, for no good reason.
Both Pomerantz and Dean Michael Martis were hypcrites in the matter of Kallahan”s removal. One of the reasons he was hired was to Ðdeal¼ with the ROC-TV issue, which has hindered the media programs on this campus for some time. As a matter of fact, Martis suggested to Kallahan that ROC be eliminated as an organization on campus, as well as the steering committee for student media. But Mr. K said he wasn”t prepared to pursue such action. However, when Kelley and her band of whining egotists pushed for Kallahan”s removal, Norleen simply rolled over. So did Martis. And RU missed a golden opportunity to have an experienced and talented person improve the student media programs on campus.
Kelley made much of a memo that Mr. K wrote about changing the steering committee. First, he wrote that memo as his own opinion and not the committee”s. Second, he did use the word Ðwe¼ one single time, when referring to the suggestion that faculty advisors should not sit on the committee because they represented a conflict of interest. Mr. K honestly believed that was how the committee felt. But Kelley used that single reference to Ðwe¼ to convince the student leaders that the whole memo was supposed to be their collective opinion. Kelley maliciously obscured the truth; rather than speaking to Mr. K for clarification, she decided to vilify him instead. Mr. K told me that not one single student media leader said goodbye to him at the end of the semester ˜ after everything he did for them and their programs. He did not deserve such treatment.
Kelley was an instructor who is no longer on campus. Her journalistic abilities are nothing outstanding and her professional experience doesn”t go beyond Roanoke. As for Chelsea Adams, she is another instructor who is best known for apologizing about eating her lunch at committee meetings. One would think she would get tired of apologizing or start eating her lunch at some other time. How about some of the student media faculty? Mr. K helped Joe Flickinger out with the Radio Free Radford mess, cleaning it up for him. But did Joe ever visit Mr. K to let him know what Sandra Kelley was up to? No. And Dr. Kovarick, bless his heart, is a good man. But he moans and groans too much about freedom of expression for the students, when he should have supported Mr. K”s efforts to raise the level of professionalism at ROC-TV and keep the student media budget in order. As a whole, the media studies faculty is also partly responsible for Mr. K”s removal. They should have done more teaching and less politicking. They are also hypocritical because they really didn”t support an independent channel for ROC-TV. Yet they raised hell when Kallahan changed his mind on the matter.
Yes, Mr. K is the one who first championed a new channel for ROC, despite the objections from Kelley, Adams and others. But he changed his mind when the budget crunch came, and saw how screwed up the ROC leadership was. Kallahan”s point of view was simple: cut through the petty politics and focus on what”s important ˜ a healthy budget, efficient operations, and improved professional values. For this attitude, he got canned by people whose egos were more important than anything else. For example, Rachel Thomason screamed about how Mr. K didn”t Ðconsult¼ her about taking $10,000 for a ROC channel and spending it on the production lab instead. Even after Mr. K reversed his decision and apologized for the action, she went ahead and sent a very nasty memo to half the campus. And she kept moaning about how she wasn”t Ðconsulted¼ to anyone who would listen. Get a clue, Thomason ˜ Mr. K didn”t have to consult you on budgetary matters! Rachel did a good job with Whim magazine, but she is also a very malicious and vindictive person who helped destroy Mr. K”s career here because of her own conceit.
What lesson should this campus learn from Mr. K”s firing? It should learn that petty politics, mostly centered around ROC, continues to hinder the professional growth of student media programs at RU. We also should learn that Debbie Brown has a lot of authority on campus concerning personnel, and that Norleen Pomerantz is under her thumb. If I were writing for The Tartan, I would try to find out more about how Brown operates and why she has so much power as an assistant vice president. Rumor has it that she has so much Ðdirt¼ on other administrators that they are afraid to cross her path. You will have a hard time finding someone on campus who actually likes Debbie Brown!
Even Dr. Covington and his assistant, Carrie McTeer, were hypocrite in this matter. Mr. K tried to arrange a taped interview with Covington for ROC”s doocumentary project. McTeer cancelled Covington”s scheduled interview four separate times before finally telling Mr. K that Covington Ðdoesn”t trust ROC-TV.¼ But where was the president when Brown and Kelley were calling for Kallahan”s removal? It is obvious that Brown doesn”t have to consult with the university president on matters of personnel. I wonder if he feels embarrassed by that situation.
I work in the field of media and I can more than appreciate what Mr. K was trying to do for the student media programs. Yes, budgets do matter. Yes, productivity does matter. And, yes, professional attitudes do matter. ROC-TV is a joke and will continue to embarrass the campus. All you have to do is go down the road to Virginia Tech to see how a real student-operated television station works. Shaggy has his good points, but he is simply too immature and self-centered to lead ROC into a new era of responsibility and production work that is journalism and not misguided efforts by a group of ÐSaturday Night Live wannabes.¼ I hear that ROC is doing a movie these days. OMGá.I can hardly wait to miss it! I”m sure it will be a substandard effort, and I”m also sure it will embarrass RU.
To everyone who played a role in getting Mr. K firedádo you feel like more decent people? You cowards waited for Kallahan to go on vacation to make your big push with lots of email and accusations. Mr. K never saw any of the email, the accusations were never specified to him, and he wasn”t even given a chance to defend himself. Kelley and her band of cowards put pressure on Pomerantz, Debbie Brown put pressure on Pomerantz, and Pomerantz caved in with Dean Martis there to help Ðjustify¼ her action. Mr, K deserved better. He had done a lot for student media during his short stay, and he would have done a lot more. But he needed support from the administration and he needed the faculty advisors to stop playing politics. This didn”t happen, and RU blew a real opportunity. Mr. K genuinely cared about the student media programs and did what he could to remove petty politics from the equation. Yes, he made some mistakes but nothing to justify his firing. In the end, he was dismissed because a small group of hateful cowards felt threatened by him. They need to ask themselves what motivated their actions.
As for me, I will remain anonymous for obvious reasons. Working in the field of media, I can tell you that I behaved the way Kinback and Thomason behaved toward Mr. K, I would be fired immediately. Too bad Mr. K couldn”t have fired several student media leaders and faculty advisors for their conceit and ineptitude. Believe me, the university would have been much better off.
Sincerely, The Anonymous Critic
Name: Greg
Comments:
I think it'd be cool to work there, in fact, I recently dreamed that I was trying to get a job there. But yeah, customers are very stupid, I've always hated dealing with them. They are why I believe that the majority of this country is full of idiots and should all be shot.
Name: media whore
Comments:
Well I work at best buy and I get phone calls like this all the time,
Person on phone: "I have this phone and it is broke, do you have it in stock"
ME: "what is the model number of the phone"
Person on phone: "I don't know, it is black and cost $39.99 in April of 2002"
ME: "We have lots of black phones, your description narrows the choice of phones down to about 20 phones"
Person on Phone: "Why can't you just look and see if you have it, I want ot speak to your manager!"
Me: "SURE!!"
I also have people asking me why I don't know which phone sounds the best, First it would be a matter of opinion, secondly why should I spend my time wondering what $20 phone sounds the best, and finally, why am I going to help you pick out a phone for 5 hours when I can help somoene who is going ot spend a hell of a lot more on a digital camera(and yes I have seen people spend 5 hours looking over ever single phone and then looking over them about 3 more times b/c they are such idiots they forgot what they read)?!?!
I also had a customer tell me that Best Buy makes money and he doesn't like the fact that it does, so I told him, "yes this is a buisness, thats what buisnesses do, welcome to a capitalist economy", then he just stared at me in his dumb stupor and asked I want to speak to a manager to get this phone for free (and this man was completely legitimate in wanting to get it for free).
OK enough of my bitching, we always have our little best buy bitch sessions and in one of them, a guy from the Home Theatre dept said he got a phone call "Do you have coor TV's that are cable ready?", and he responded, "No, we don't have that type of technology yet, you need to go down the street for it."
Name: Nick
Comments:
Right on Greg. You make me feel really bad for that itme I went into 7-11 drunk, haha. Anyway, we appreciate the 7-11 folks for being so patient with all of us dumb Radford kids. Here's to you, convenience store employees!
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