Retail Hell Underground

Karebear Updates About StuckUp And Snob

Pepper and I have decided to look for a new gym. We found one that was a little more pricey, but much friendlier. However, BlueEyes decided to stay behind at the old place, and since he and Pepper are still in contact, we heard about the lovely events that went down.

Turns out Snob and StuckUp were underage. 16 years old to be exact. I still wondered why they weren't in school then because we went at different hours of the day - both morning and afternoons. But whatever, not my business really.

Well, turns out one of them, I want to say Snob, but could have been StuckUp (BlueEyes said the blonde, they were both blonde) was pregnant. Mommy and Daddy found out, went ape shit, started to press for information about the father. Snob/StuckUp said it was the manager of the gym (not the owner, just manager) who is well into his 40's.

BlueEyes said Daddy of Snob/StuckUp came bursting into the gym and started going ape shit crazy.

According to BlueEyes the rant went something like, "Who the fuck do you hire? Do you not even look at their records to make sure they aren't kiddie rapists? And TO LET THEM DO IT HERE IN YOUR GYM! I should sue! I'm going to sue! I want this fucker arrested right now!!!"

That's really all the details we got because the owner dragged the screaming father into the office and shut the door. BlueEyes decided it was time to get ready to leave and said he saw two police officers and Snob/StuckUp and her mother enter on his way out.

Whether this girl is speaking the truth or pulling some bullshit out of spite for some reason, I'm still glad Pepper and I left. I'll stay at my drama-free gym from now on, thankyouverymuch. (Old gym was kind of in a seedy looking area...go figure.)

--Karebear

Awesome Heavenspawn Makes A Retail Slave's Day

N.A.T. Gets A Very Toothy Surprise When He Tries To Break In

Hey RHU!

I have a couple stories hanging around, however since my internet has decided to die, I can't tell a lot of them as it would be hell to write out on my phone! But this one, I just had to share straight away.

It's not retail, as such, but it's about a NAT whose stupidity reached epic proportions.

Bit of backstory. I have 3 dogs, who normally wouldn't harm a fly unless they feel threatened. One of them is big, and very very scary looking, but has the nicest temperament.

Anyway, last night my dogs started barking about 3am. We expect its just some kids being loud outside, and now go back to asleep.

This morning however, we find broken glass and blood all over the floor. Fearing the worst, we check the dogs and find them all ok. We call the police, they take blood for DNA, verify nothing was taken and leave.

Later on in the day, we get another call. They found the guy.

Turns out he had turned up at the police station to report some dangerous dogs, and gave our address. He then admitted to breaking into the house. He admitted attempted theft to report our dogs four attacking him when he came in.

I have lost faith in humanity.

Luckily as he had entered our house, our dogs are completely safe and have been given lots of treats for keeping us safe.

I will bring you stories of horrific managers when my internet returns.

TTFN,

--The Science Ninja.

Tip Jar Of The Day

Unique Coca-Cola Vending Machines Bring The People of India and Pakistan Together

 

Heroic Moore Teachers: Trenda Purcell and Jancie Brim Save Childrens Lives During Tornado

Many of the teachers were heroes during the Moore tornado. Trenda Purcell and her teacher's aide created a music came to help calm the children calm their nerves as the storm approached. You can feel the woman's passion, strength, and bravery.

Jancie Brim directed her kids into a closet and bathrooms, most definitely saving all of their lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Moore, Okalahoma.

A Question For RHU

Durango Deli Slave here, with just a quick question for all the RHUer's out there. How do you all deal with rumors in the workplace? Like one of my associates put it, "The internet ain't got nothing on this place". News and "false-news" travels faster than lightning around our store, so much that at times its hard to work a day without someone saying, "Oh, did you hear...?"

Usually, I could care less about whatever is going on, or what people think is going on, but sometimes the rumors involve close co-workers or even myself. The ones about myself are so over the top all I can do is laugh, so I don't worry about those.

But some of my co-workers get really upset about what people say and think about them. Some of these rumors have spilled out into the customer base (small town).

How do you all handle absurd and ridiculous rumors? I know every workplace has a rumor mill, so I figured this was the best place to ask.

Thanks for any input you all can give! Stay strong and rumor free, fellow slaves!

--Durango Deli Slave

Walmart Believes You Have "A Lot of Freedom" When Dressing For Work There

A Novel Way To Break Up With Somebody.

Creepy Custy Stalks Retail Slave, Store Doesn't Help

Hey RHU!

So I have a story for you which happened to me many years ago when I first got into slave labour (*ahem* retail *ahem*). I was working at our areas predominant grocery store in the Deli, as a clerk and meat grabber.

It was a job I actually really enjoyed, since I got to spend most of the day dealing with sweet old ladies, and generally nice people. Everything there was by the books which sometimes led to conflicts in the "Customer is always right" vs "Workers rights" area. But considering we were all female I figured they would be a little more understanding about this situation.

So on this day it's extremely busy, and we're pumping out that sliced meat just as fast as our little hands can take us without slicing them on the cutter. All is going well, customers are getting what they need, and I'm offering the best damn service I can while barely having time to look at the customer.

All of a sudden a gentleman (so I thought) comes up and places his order. I start grabbing it, and all the while he's chatting me away. I courteously chat back and hand him his order. Does he leave? Nope. He stands there and keeps talking. I start asking if there's anything else I can grab him. Nope. He just "wants to admire such a beautiful young lady". Creepy.

By this point the line-up of 10-12 people behind him as well as the manager start giving me dirty looks, so I just start ignoring him and serving other people. Damned if he didn't stand there for the next 40 minutes, in the middle of the rush hour and chat to me (thin air). Finally, he leaves and blows me a kiss goodbye. Yuck.

So the manager comes up to me and tells me that I can't have friends hanging around here chatting while we're working (Creepy guy=40-50, Me=16). I just stood there and stared at her. I told her that I had no idea who that was, and that I was just serving them and they wouldn't leave.

She says: "Well, you need to assert yourself then!"

Really?

The next couple of days go by, and I didn't see CG(creepy guy). Until one day I'm out behind the counter restocking cheeses when one of my friends comes up. I discreetly showed her the new tattoo I had on my lower hip, chattered her up then went back to work.

Next thing you know CG comes up and compliments my tattoo. I completely ignore him and keep restocking. "Do you have any others?"

Ignore, restock.

"Can I check?", and damned if he doesn't reach over to start pulling up my shirt. At this point I freaked, ran behind the counter, and told one of my much older coworkers what I had happened. She told me to wait in the cooler while she went to help him.

CG said he "Didn't want to deal with anyone but me"

Coworker says "No, I am now on my break. Company policy doesn't allow workers to help custys once clocked out."

This continues for a while, until he goes and files a complaint with head office!

Coworker sees how fucking freaked out I am, tells me to talk to the head office as well as our manager. They said that I would no longer have to deal with this customer and not to worry. Great!!

Well that didn't last long. We had a very strict break schedule, that unfortunately he knew. So the last break of the day, when my coworkers would leave for break, he would come in while I was by myself. I couldn't leave the counter or the area until coworker came back. Luckily customers aren't allowed behind the counter so he couldn't touch me, but it was still extremely creepy. When brought up to managers, the answer was, well they have to take a break. I asked if we could get one of the stock boys to come watch while I worked alone for a half hour. No dice.

Unfortunately, nothing really ended up being done about this situation. I ended up quitting a few days later after the last encounter. I always just hoped though that an awesome company would do there best to protect a young employee from verbal sexual assault. Well at least it was an honest initiation into the world of retail!

Hope no one's customer is ever as bad as this!

Cheers!

--RHUer

I present to you the perfect reply to one of the stupid things we hear a lot

You're welcome.

 

 

Boss' Attempted Spy Move Foiled

Travelpro's Shared Story About A Sort-Of Step-Brother Supervisor

Hey, RHU.

My friend Travelpro always has the juiciest retail stories, and I got permission from her to post this one as well.

The set-up: Travelpro has recently gotten a job at a hardware store in town, and while some days are more "Ugh, Thrognar take me now," than others, she seems to like it well enough.

When she was hired, she got a weird surprise: her kind-of stepbrother, Celsius, was working there as well. He was, in fact, her new supervisor. (The "kind-of" part refers to the fact that their parents are not married, simply dating. They're not actually related by blood OR marriage.) They decided not to say anything, and keep things strictly professional. This was easy enough on Travelpro's end, but Celsius... there were some casual bets in Travelpro's circle of friends as to how long he would last. Celsius has had some issues with hard drugs, and also, some bi-polar problems that he seemed to want to ignore.

The first official day of work started out wrong. This store was brand new, and had to be merchandised before opening. The first day of merchandising fell on a day that Travelpro had indicated that she could not work due to her school schedule. She had it off, and had checked twice with management that she was scheduled off that particular day. They both told her yes. So she ran a few errands first thing in the morning that day, and I happened to go with her.

When her phone rang, she was surprised to see that it was Celsius, wanting to know where she was and saying that he was calling in the capacity of "concerned stepbrother" rather than as a supervisor. He stated that everyone else was scheduled to work that day, and why wasn't she at work?

She explained that she was told that she had that day off and asked if she had actually been scheduled. She asked him to check the schedule and call her back. When he did, he said that he hadn't looked for her name specifically, but had seen everyone else's name.

They finally decided that she was not working, but guess who called next? Travelpro's mom. Celsius has said something to his dad, who had said something to her mom, who had called her. Frustrated, Travelpro phoned Celsius' supervisor to find out what the deal was, and he replied that she could come in if she wanted to, but that she was not scheduled to work.

A few weeks later, Travelpro was having dinner with a friend when she received another phone call from Celsius, asking about beer. She told him that she was out with a friend already, but that maybe they could hang out the following weekend.

He clarified: he wanted her to BRING him beer, then leave.

He wanted a beer delivery service because, as a minor, he could not buy his own. He tried to pull, "I'm your supervisor," on her a few times, and she delivered her no in the kind of customer service voice that one reserves for crusties with expired coupons.

It was a shortly after this that Travelpro learned from her mother that Celsius had lost his job. He had told everyone that a whole bunch of people had gotten fired that weekend, when in fact, it had just been himself and another guy.

He told his father that he had been fired because of his seizures (no), which Travelpro leaned of through the Rumor Mill. The other guy was fired for juggling dangerous tools. Celsius was caught jousting... at a stack of birdseed...with a pallet jack. I just... damn, RHU. Damn.

May Your Kind-Of Relatives Stay the Hell Away From Your Jobsite,

--Without Nametag

Bookstore Kindness

The Top 20 Companies With The Most Low-Wage Workers

From Business Insider: During the State of the Union address President Barack Obama indicated that he hoped to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 from its current stance of $7.25.

As it stands, the only state in the U.S. with a minimum wage higher than $9.00 is Washington.

Were the increase to go through, every other state in the nation will have to adapt. 

Already people have come out to label the program a job killer, and the companies that will be impacted most should the policy become law will be the companies that employ a large quantity of low-income workers making at or slightly above the federal minimum wage. 

The National Employment Law Project studies industries and identifies companies where employees have low wages. In July 2012 the group released a study listing the largest U.S. companies that primarily have low-wage employees. 

Note that there's no hard numbers on how many of these companies workers are making the exact minimum wage. And the column of the US Workforce refers to all of these companies' US workers, not just their workers making a low wage.

 

via www.businessinsider.com