Sunday, July 05, 2009

Muscling in on Subaru Territory.

In case you haven't heard the joke, it goes like this: 
How do you clear out a Starbucks?  Walk in and yell "Someone's stealing a kayak off the roof of a Subaru out there."
  Well, as you (hopefully) can see, someone has chosen to cross into the elitist territory of Subaru owners. That's your basic 2-door speck.  I think it's actually a Daihatsu.  A 20 year old Daihatsu.  In used-and-abused shape.  And, ok, it's a canoe.  But still, someone is trying to delve into territory that has been reserved for the yuppie-Subaru crowd.  And although they have every right to, I still think it looks pretty damn funny.
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Return of Bicycle-bum.  The guy who tried to make me feel guilty for embarassing him in front of his friend (which happens to be the same lie he's told several people when asked to leave our customers alone) when I asked him to leave the Chevron customers alone was back.  He returned on the 4th of July, in the evening, when all but 2 of the staff were at the store*.  The manager, who also happens to be the owner's son-in-law, went out to tell him that he is not allowed to bother customers in our parking lot.  Bicycle-bum got very angry, called him a whole bunch of names, questioned the ligitimacy of his bloodlines and in returned was asked to never come back to the store.  Which means that if he tries to pull that line on me again, I can just come back with "That's all fine, but the manager told you that you were not allowed on the property at all."
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*the 4th of July fireworks are in the park right across the street from the Chevron I work at.  Every year tens of thousands of people show up for them, and a good percentage come into our store.  We have to have 2 people at the door just to limit the number of people coming in at a time, and to do their best to keep things from walking out without being paid for.  We had to bag everything, even if they just got a pack of gum, because the people at the door were not letting anything out the door that was not in a bag.  I spent 4 hours at the cash register ringing up person, after person, after person.  My cash register, which was open from 2:00 in the afternoon until 1:00 in the morning, logged in almost $4,500 in sales - that's seperate from the gas sales.  And think about it, the average inside sale ranges from $1 up to $30. That's a lot of people.  (Um, anyone out there thinking that's a gold mine waiting to be robbed - we never do anywhere near that any night other than the 4th, and chances are good, at a 4th of July party in Utah, at least one of the 30 people in the building at any one time has a concealed carry gun permit.  Not a smart career move.)

8 comments:

Jannx said...

Wow, I think I'll just say bicycle guy is making you earn your extra pay. Not really how I would want to spend the summer. I hope there is some joy in doing your Chevron job, and hopefully, bicycle guy isn't sucking the positive out of it.

Max Sartin said...

Actually, I find bicycle guy more amusing than annoying. Kinda reminds me of dealing with jr high kids. Even so, there are a lot of other things that make the job enjoyable for the most part. 90% of the customers are quite nice, I've already had a few remember me from when I was there before. I also have to admit that running into ex-students that recognize me (and are willing to admit it) after 10 or more years is an ego boost. And even though it's only been a couple of days, I seem to get along with all the people that work there. The people you work with can make or break any job, these folks seem great. So, all in all, I'd rather not be working 2 jobs, but since I have to, this is a good place to be.

A Paperback Writer said...

What about the 24th? Do you do reasonable sales then, too? After all, they usually have fireworks at the park that night as well.

Max Sartin said...

The fireworks on the 24th are usually at Liberty Park, so for us it's just a usual day. Now, for the 7-11 on the corner of 5th East and 13th South, must be a different story.

A Paperback Writer said...

Oh. There USED to be fireworks on the 24th at Sugarhouse Park. I remember going as a kid.
Hmmm... Well, that tells you how long it's been since I've gone to a fireworks display (in this country). There's usually no need, as you can see them from all over.
I watched the one at the end of the 2002 Olympics from my bedroom window.

Max Sartin said...

Well, all I can vouch for is the last 16 years. What they did before I moved in here I have no idea. Which means it's been at least 16 years since you last went to fireworks here in the US.

A Paperback Writer said...

I don't doubt it.
I remember the coolest fireworks display I've ever seen was in Verica, Italy in the summer of 1993. The second coolest was in Hangzhou, China, in October of 2001. Neither country has the same kind of safety restrictions we do on fireworks, so they had some pretty amazing/dangerous stuff. (The Chinese one was done over a lake, though, so that reduced the fire hazard significantly.)

Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I really liked the Starbucks joke. funny. Makes me think of science teacher RW....

Max Sartin said...

Oh yeah, I can picture him in a Subaru with a kayak on top.