My first day(technically, my sixth)

I officially started working at Wal-Mart last Friday, but I forgot to set this blog up then, when I first thought about it.

So anyways, I work at the jewelry department in Wal-Mart. And let me tell you, Wal-Mart has surprised me in this area. They have diamonds. They have gold. White gold. Silver. Timex watches. Lots of neat stuff that I had formerly scoffed about Wal-Mart not having. *G*

Today was my first, personal experience with an unreasonable, irate customer. Earlier this week, a curmudgy old woman came in, telling me and C, my co-worker, that she had called in earlier and asked about little girl's earrings, and someone had told her that we had them. So basically, she comes over to our counter and tells us this. Me and C are clueless. We sure hadn't talked to her.

So then me and C look inside of the little girl jewelry case to see if it was there. C, takes out a pair of studs.

Old Lady: "That wasn't what they said they had. They said you had little girl's earrings with safety backs."

C: "Who did you speak with?"

OL: "I don't know, she didn't give me her name."

Me and C look at each other and then continue to look through the stacks.

OL: "No No No! They said you had 3 mm little girl earrings with safety backs!"

Me: "Maybe you spoke with R."

OL: "I don't know. Whoever it was said that you had them!"

Now the woman's jowls are shaking with indignation and I'm like...oh Lord.

Then R comes back from break.

R: "Oh, B must have scanned the wrong bracket when you called. We don't have those."

OL: "You said you did!"

R: "It was a mistake, ma'am. I'm sorry."

OL shuffles away, looking disgruntled and like she just ate a cow.

Good grief.

But that was technically third person irate customer, now on to my personal experience, today.

Wal-Mart changes batteries in watches. But only watches they sell. And not Timex or Casio. And not watches that have four or five grooves on the back--we don't have the equipment to open the back.

So in shuffles old guy, wearing a scruffy blue cap.

OG: "Can I get my battery changed?"

I look at his watch and see that it's a Timex.

Me: "Sir, we aren't allowed to touch Timex watches."

OG(hard of hearing):"Excuse me?"

Me: "Timex doesn't want Wal-Mart associates to change the batteries on their watches. Company policy, I'm sorry."

OG: "Why not?"

Me: "It's their policy. I can't change it. I'm sorry. Crescent Jewelers, next door could probably do it for you."

OG: "What's that?"

Me: "The jewelry store--go out the front doors, make a left and it's right next to Wal-Mart."

OG: "So you're not going to change my battery?"

Me: "I'm sorry sir, but we aren't allowed to."

OG: "Well screw that, I'm never shopping here again!"

A smile is pasted on my face. Te entire time I was thinking "good grief! it's just a watch battery!".

With that, Old guy stomps out indignantly, clutching his broken watch in his fist.

Twenty minutes later.

My jolly assistant manager, M, comes back to the jewelry department, old guy in tow.

M asks me about whether we change batteries. I tell him that we do. M says what's the problem? I tell him Timex policy. M goes and looks at the Timex case and reads the sign hanging behind it, all the while, old guy is looking smug and wrinkled.

"Get your batteries changed while you wait. *Wal-Mart sold watches only. Includes Timex and Casio watches."

M: "See there..."continues reading. "*with the exception of waterproof Timex and Casio watches."

M hands me the watch. I paste another smile upon my face and old guy looks all smugger still. I look at the back of the watch and in engraved letters it says "Waterproof: Timex" I show M and then he shows Old guy, whose smugness has melted away like water.

HA!!

Then, M puts the icing on the cake by telling Old guy "How would you like a free watch?"

Old Guy loses his smugness and looks a bit stupid because he got irate over nothing. We ring up the transaction and he says "Well, that just takes the wind out of my sails."

DUH!!

Old guy leaves and I'm just fighting the sneer that fights to come onto my face. But M, my asst manager is still there, so I laugh at his little joke. Ha bloody Ha. Finally M leaves.

Ten minutes later, my co-workers F and R come back from wherever they had been. Forty minutes later, I'm doing my drudge work of scanning the 7 dollar watches to check to see if the prices are correct, and then having to put them back, in their correct slots(and I swear, it is a tiring job), when who comes by, but Old Lady! In my head, I go "Oh No". R then walks by and breathes "Lord, save me from this woman!"

Sheesh, by that, I took to mean that this old lady is a regular customer. Drat.

Later on, Justin Timberlake walks into the jewelry department and buys a watch. Ha ha. No, just this wannabe Justin.

Did I also tell you that I have this absurd, and idiotic fantasy of finding my one true love at Wal-Mart? So, I'm on the lookout at all of the cute customers and co-workers. Though...mostly old people come shop in my department, and my male co-workers are either not great to look at, or are eons older than me.

Gah.

I have to work tommorow.