February 16, 2009

Missing Circus Freak?

A security guard came into the store today to tell me about a missing child in the mall. His exact description was, "A hispanic boy wearing a black hoodie. He's 3 years old and 4 feet tall."

4 feet tall??!! Did the Guinness Book of World Records send out a nationwide search party for this missing marvel? Or have the parents just not looked at their child recently?

Either way, I kind of hoped the kid would wander into my store, just so I could see what a "4 foot tall" 3 year old looked like.


I love my job.

February 9, 2009

Yummy

Periodically, the company rewards certain stores by having contests in which everyone can win prizes or bonus money.

My store won a contest in January in which the prize was a "pizza party." I called my DM today to find out how I was supposed to get the money for the pizza. She told me that it was the DM's responsibility to pay for the pizza. Hmmm, sounds like gourmet pizza to me.


I love my job.

February 6, 2009

Today will go down in infamy.

I just wanted to document my phone conversation with my DM today. Right in the middle of her normal gibberish about payroll hours, visuals, and emails, she all of a sudden says, "YOU NEED TO PUSH YOUR SALES." Under normal circumstances in the retail environment this would not seem out of the ordinary. However, I swear to God, that is the first time ever in which I heard the word "sales" come out of her mouth. She has been my DM since September, and I have never once discussed sales with her. You'd think in this economic recession (or whatever we're in) sales would be the only thing we are focusing on to keep the company alive. Not according to my DM though, what the mannequins are wearing and the email that I didn't read is obviously much more important. Obviously.

How many people would be able to keep track of the fact that the DM has never mentioned sales in 5 months? Well, I guess that just shows how many actual conversations I've had with her in 5 months.

I love my job.

February 3, 2009

Why the company sucks at life.

My entry tonight is very symbolic to me in how far I have come in a year. Exactly a year ago today was my first day in my new store. It really makes me feel accomplished when I think about the visuals, the employees, the back room, and pretty much every other aspect and how it has changed today. It is also a celebratory day for me because a year ago I met my first sales associate and thought of her as a sweet, talkative, conservative girl. And today I fired that same girl for stealing. It's funny how life works out like that. When they say it's the person you least expect, they're not kidding. But before I get to that, I wrote vows a year ago about becoming a manager and I would like to see how true I have stayed to them:

1. I vow to spell check every e-mail before I send it to my district manager. My spelling is immaculate, however the bitchiness level on my emails has definitely skyrocketed.
2. I vow to not have a nervous breakdown and breathe into a paper bag while at work. I've stayed true to this one, but I've been pretty close to vomiting.
3. I vow to not yell at customers. Well, most of the time.
4. I vow to say "thank you" and "good job" when my employees deserve it. Except when they steal.
5. I vow to walk around the sales floor like a human being, not a gorilla. Haha, I miss the gorilla.
6. I vow to not be an obsessive compulsive neat freak. I'm the farthest thing from this, that's why my assistant managers need to balance me out and be OCD.
7. I vow to talk to my employees on a daily basis. I would hate my job if I didn't.
8. I vow to be on time to work everyday. Painfully true. I'm never late. Ever.
9. I vow to not complain about being "tired" every damn day. The word "tired" has officially scarred me for life and I have removed it from my vocabulary.
10. I vow to never become a lazy slob, genuine retard, raving bitch, or loveable lunatic. I'm sure my employees have their own name for me, but I would be happy with Loveable Bitch.

Oh the memories.

Onto the stealing bitch, I'm not going to get into specifics but basically I knew she was stealing for the past 3 months. I notified my LP director and DM, started doing research and everyone ignored me. I left approximately 10-15 v-mails to LP telling them that I knew she was stealing and needed someone to take action. Nothing. And this folks, is why the company sucks at life and will eventually fail horribly. After the LP director scheduled numerous times to come "investigate" and never showed up, I took the liberty upon myself to write him a 3 page email from my personal email account ranting about how nothing has been done, she's stealing right in front of me, the company is promoting stealing, and stated all of my evidence. It's funny how fast people will react when you send them angry, ranting emails. I guess I overstepped my boundaries a bit, but the LP director showed up today, got her to confess, and fired her. Hmmm, guess I was right this whole time. Maybe next time I'll just go directly to the CEO...that should get me some quick results.


I love my job.