"It's work / All that matters is work"
Mar. 26th, 2004 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfishOver at Making Light, Colleen at Del Rey observes that one of her jobs entailed "checking to see how booksellers handled customer requests, if they would walk a customer to a section instead of just pointing, if they would sneer if a customer asked for romance, or sci-fi or a self-help book or if they would be non-judgemental and help the customer find what they were looking for, if they would offer to special orders books for a customer, if they would direct custiomers to a neighboring bookstore that might have the book they need."
I think of myself as a pretty darn slack bookstore employee. I don't ask everyone who comes in "Can I help you find anything?" [unless I'm really, really bored]; when I look things up in the computer for idiots ("the title is something like XXXXX" or "the author's last name is Smith") I often make a show of using the computer for about fifteen seconds before saying "I'm sorry, I can't find it in our system." (I generally shunt such problem customers to Books-a-Million. The good ones I send to B&N.) I stand behind the counter, or just in front of it, reading a cartoon book or Hellboy or a collection of poker anecdotes, and if you want my attention you'll probably have to actually come up to me and say so.
But, you know, I do all the things that Colleen mentions[1]. You ask me where something is, you get an escort to that part of the store. I won't sneer at you for asking about self-help, or the latest business or diet fad book, or even romance. [At least, not to your face.] I'll tell you to go to B&N if we don't have your book, and I'll offer to special-order your book for you even though only about two percent of you will take me up on it. It's part of my job. I hate dealing with other people at work, in any capacity, but I do it because it's what I'm getting paid to do. It quite honestly astounds me that there are people working in bookstores that don't do these things. I just try not to remember that they get paid as much as I do, or that I get paid as much as the hypothetical person who spends all zir time wandering around the store straightening and asking customers if zie can be of any assistance.
"I try not to sound old and cynical, but it's hard to do that when you're old and cynical." --Steve Simmons
[1] Note that if you're acting like an asshole-- and some days my asshole threshold is very, very low-- all of this goes out the window. Courtesy's free, folks.
I think of myself as a pretty darn slack bookstore employee. I don't ask everyone who comes in "Can I help you find anything?" [unless I'm really, really bored]; when I look things up in the computer for idiots ("the title is something like XXXXX" or "the author's last name is Smith") I often make a show of using the computer for about fifteen seconds before saying "I'm sorry, I can't find it in our system." (I generally shunt such problem customers to Books-a-Million. The good ones I send to B&N.) I stand behind the counter, or just in front of it, reading a cartoon book or Hellboy or a collection of poker anecdotes, and if you want my attention you'll probably have to actually come up to me and say so.
But, you know, I do all the things that Colleen mentions[1]. You ask me where something is, you get an escort to that part of the store. I won't sneer at you for asking about self-help, or the latest business or diet fad book, or even romance. [At least, not to your face.] I'll tell you to go to B&N if we don't have your book, and I'll offer to special-order your book for you even though only about two percent of you will take me up on it. It's part of my job. I hate dealing with other people at work, in any capacity, but I do it because it's what I'm getting paid to do. It quite honestly astounds me that there are people working in bookstores that don't do these things. I just try not to remember that they get paid as much as I do, or that I get paid as much as the hypothetical person who spends all zir time wandering around the store straightening and asking customers if zie can be of any assistance.
"I try not to sound old and cynical, but it's hard to do that when you're old and cynical." --Steve Simmons
[1] Note that if you're acting like an asshole-- and some days my asshole threshold is very, very low-- all of this goes out the window. Courtesy's free, folks.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 07:15 pm (UTC)Saw that movie as a freshman in college with no wage-slave experience; wasn't impressed. I strongly suspect I need to see it again now that I've spent over half my adult life (and godDAMN that sounds pathetic) making less than $7/hr.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-28 07:59 am (UTC)