Wednesday, June 08, 2005
It's been a while
I know I haven't added much here in a while but it's been a crazy year. A few friends had a crisis of their own, my youngest daughter finished high school and will soon be off to college, and I've been working in RETAIL of all things. Never much free time or weekends if you're in retail.
Which brings me to todays topic. Stupid customers. It's true that many customers are quite nice and a joy to be helpful too. But some not only do you wish they'd just go away, they make things difficult for all the other customers as well as create the very problems they love to complain about.
Hours before the store opens, there are employees, rushing around putting all the things in order and making sure signs are correct in order to help the customer find what they're looking for. Then the store opens. Customers begin to come in and shop. They remove items from the shelf and put them back on entirely different shelves. Sometimes in a whole different part of the store.
The last few months I've worked in the "garden center" of our store. Do you know how many different kinds of tomato plants there are? We sell at least a dozen different varieties. All of them come in with the little tags in them telling you what variety they are. This is a good thing since at this stage of growth they all LOOK pretty much alike, but will give you drastically different tomatoes. So what do the customers do? They pull all of the little tags out to read them, and then if it's not the one they wanted it to be they toss it on the ground. They'll go down the line pulling out lots of these little tags (and moving the plants around) until they find the one they want. They buy it and leave. Then along comes another customer. "What kind of tomato is this?" they ask holding up a six-pack of plants with no tag. I look and see all the different kinds of tags on the ground and tell them the truth. "I'm sorry, but I have absolutely NO CLUE". And there is no way I can easily correct the problem. Meanwhile customer one comes back deciding they need MORE plants and complains very loudly that these plants don't have tags in them and you can't tell what they are. Well gee lady! I wonder why?
It's also frustrating when you've worked for hours to make sure everything has prices and signs telling you what it is and what it costs. And the customer says, "how much is this?" Now how much is this? Now what about this one? This one? I'm sorry but could you tell me how much this is? And they will do this with every thing they see. Then buy nothing and leave most often. And they can SEE that another customer is waiting patiently for your help, but will interrupt you constantly to ask the price of something. And they continue to ask even after you politely point out all of the signs and prices and markings. Oh, and often after you've confirmed for them the price of an item they will put it back but in a different location and by the wrong sign and price.
So the next time you look sadly at the high prices of items when you're shopping ask yourself if you are one of those customers who helps increase the prices a store has to charge, by doing the kinds of things I mentioned here.
BTW - Retail doesn't pay very well either. If you get a nice sales person to talk to be grateful and thank them for their time and help. Or before long you'll have ONLY the rude ones to deal with. And these are the ones who don't really work very well, which will only add more expense to the cost of keeping the store profitable and open.
I know I haven't added much here in a while but it's been a crazy year. A few friends had a crisis of their own, my youngest daughter finished high school and will soon be off to college, and I've been working in RETAIL of all things. Never much free time or weekends if you're in retail.
Which brings me to todays topic. Stupid customers. It's true that many customers are quite nice and a joy to be helpful too. But some not only do you wish they'd just go away, they make things difficult for all the other customers as well as create the very problems they love to complain about.
Hours before the store opens, there are employees, rushing around putting all the things in order and making sure signs are correct in order to help the customer find what they're looking for. Then the store opens. Customers begin to come in and shop. They remove items from the shelf and put them back on entirely different shelves. Sometimes in a whole different part of the store.
The last few months I've worked in the "garden center" of our store. Do you know how many different kinds of tomato plants there are? We sell at least a dozen different varieties. All of them come in with the little tags in them telling you what variety they are. This is a good thing since at this stage of growth they all LOOK pretty much alike, but will give you drastically different tomatoes. So what do the customers do? They pull all of the little tags out to read them, and then if it's not the one they wanted it to be they toss it on the ground. They'll go down the line pulling out lots of these little tags (and moving the plants around) until they find the one they want. They buy it and leave. Then along comes another customer. "What kind of tomato is this?" they ask holding up a six-pack of plants with no tag. I look and see all the different kinds of tags on the ground and tell them the truth. "I'm sorry, but I have absolutely NO CLUE". And there is no way I can easily correct the problem. Meanwhile customer one comes back deciding they need MORE plants and complains very loudly that these plants don't have tags in them and you can't tell what they are. Well gee lady! I wonder why?
It's also frustrating when you've worked for hours to make sure everything has prices and signs telling you what it is and what it costs. And the customer says, "how much is this?" Now how much is this? Now what about this one? This one? I'm sorry but could you tell me how much this is? And they will do this with every thing they see. Then buy nothing and leave most often. And they can SEE that another customer is waiting patiently for your help, but will interrupt you constantly to ask the price of something. And they continue to ask even after you politely point out all of the signs and prices and markings. Oh, and often after you've confirmed for them the price of an item they will put it back but in a different location and by the wrong sign and price.
So the next time you look sadly at the high prices of items when you're shopping ask yourself if you are one of those customers who helps increase the prices a store has to charge, by doing the kinds of things I mentioned here.
BTW - Retail doesn't pay very well either. If you get a nice sales person to talk to be grateful and thank them for their time and help. Or before long you'll have ONLY the rude ones to deal with. And these are the ones who don't really work very well, which will only add more expense to the cost of keeping the store profitable and open.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Geniune CLOTH upholstery in a Mercedes?
The folks at PETA, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have gone banannas. They complained because they said thousands of cattle were being slaughtered JUST TO PROVIDE upholstery for automobiles. That's simply not true. NO cattle are slaughtered, just for their hides but rather for food. PETA applauded the decision of Mercedes-Benz to offer cloth uphostery (as an OPTION) stating that now thousands of cattle would be saved.
No they won't.
One, most people who buy an MB would RATHER have leather seats and second, they're gonna be killed anyway for the beef. The hides are sold off in addition to the meat in order to make the most of their "product".
So, my question for the silly PETA folks is, "Where's the beef?"
The folks at PETA, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have gone banannas. They complained because they said thousands of cattle were being slaughtered JUST TO PROVIDE upholstery for automobiles. That's simply not true. NO cattle are slaughtered, just for their hides but rather for food. PETA applauded the decision of Mercedes-Benz to offer cloth uphostery (as an OPTION) stating that now thousands of cattle would be saved.
No they won't.
One, most people who buy an MB would RATHER have leather seats and second, they're gonna be killed anyway for the beef. The hides are sold off in addition to the meat in order to make the most of their "product".
So, my question for the silly PETA folks is, "Where's the beef?"
Sunday, October 17, 2004
The Cost of Outsourcing...
There's a big hullabaloo all about the lack of an adequate flu vaccine supply due to screwups at Chiron's plant in the UK. Funny thing is, this is an American Company with their headquarters in California.
Since I was out of work for over a year looking diligently for a way to feed my children I've come to realize that many of the jobs that I could do had been outsourced or sent to a cheaper labor market in another country. Chiron did the same thing with these jobs. And while I'm not qualified for this kind of work, I'm certain that many who ARE, find themselves now searching for work in an ever shrinking job supply market.
If the flu vaccine had been produced in THIS country I wonder if we'd still be having this problem. I have this to say to the executives at Chiron. Given that you'll probably be hit with millions and millions of dollars worth of both individual and class action lawsuits due to your mismanagement of this situation and given that at least a few have already died, how much money did you actually SAVE?
Actually, it will more likely be a question of fighting hard to minimize your LOSSES now won't it? So the real question for you in hindsight is, "was it worth it?" No matter what your public answer most of us are quite certain you now realize what a BAD decision it was. I hope that OTHER companies are watching and learning from this turn of events, but somehow, knowing how American Business Management thinks, I seriously doubt it.
Another bad thing about outsourcing is that America is killing off almost its entire manufacturing capability. More and more of the products seen on the shelves of our stores was made in China. And while the products themselves are of decent quality, I shudder to think what a predicament we'll be in if some time down the road, China decides to declare war on the USA and we find ourselves with little ability to manufacture even defensive weapons to protect ourselves and end up having to go nuclear to survive. China loses, the US loses, and the world loses. And all for profit and the short sightedness of a few.
Food for thought. Almost all Chinese companies are owned or at the very least controlled by the Chinese military. Think about it. What do you suppose they're doing with the billions of dollars of profit we are sending them. Thank you Tricky Dicky for opening China and Slick Willie for selling or giving them access to our high technology.
MDW - Looking for a cave to buy.
There's a big hullabaloo all about the lack of an adequate flu vaccine supply due to screwups at Chiron's plant in the UK. Funny thing is, this is an American Company with their headquarters in California.
Since I was out of work for over a year looking diligently for a way to feed my children I've come to realize that many of the jobs that I could do had been outsourced or sent to a cheaper labor market in another country. Chiron did the same thing with these jobs. And while I'm not qualified for this kind of work, I'm certain that many who ARE, find themselves now searching for work in an ever shrinking job supply market.
If the flu vaccine had been produced in THIS country I wonder if we'd still be having this problem. I have this to say to the executives at Chiron. Given that you'll probably be hit with millions and millions of dollars worth of both individual and class action lawsuits due to your mismanagement of this situation and given that at least a few have already died, how much money did you actually SAVE?
Actually, it will more likely be a question of fighting hard to minimize your LOSSES now won't it? So the real question for you in hindsight is, "was it worth it?" No matter what your public answer most of us are quite certain you now realize what a BAD decision it was. I hope that OTHER companies are watching and learning from this turn of events, but somehow, knowing how American Business Management thinks, I seriously doubt it.
Another bad thing about outsourcing is that America is killing off almost its entire manufacturing capability. More and more of the products seen on the shelves of our stores was made in China. And while the products themselves are of decent quality, I shudder to think what a predicament we'll be in if some time down the road, China decides to declare war on the USA and we find ourselves with little ability to manufacture even defensive weapons to protect ourselves and end up having to go nuclear to survive. China loses, the US loses, and the world loses. And all for profit and the short sightedness of a few.
Food for thought. Almost all Chinese companies are owned or at the very least controlled by the Chinese military. Think about it. What do you suppose they're doing with the billions of dollars of profit we are sending them. Thank you Tricky Dicky for opening China and Slick Willie for selling or giving them access to our high technology.
MDW - Looking for a cave to buy.
Friday, May 07, 2004
Notice Anything Different?
I've been telling my kids since they were old enough to understand that they aren't very OBSERVANT. They can "clean" their room and not see the candy wrappers, dirty socks, video game wires, stuffed animals, dusty furniture, or anything else. They pronounce it clean when it's nowhere NEAR it. They do other chores like dishes the exact same way. Puddles of water are left for me to step in when I go to find all the dishes they didn't NOTICE. (because it was sitting on the counter next to the rest of the dishes in the sink. They don't see it EVEN THOUGH they have to move it to put the dish drain there on the counter where it was.) I could come up with many more examples.
Well now there have been scientific experiments done to PROVE that we only see "what we are looking for" and are quite likely to MISS other things entirely. We SEE them but fail to OBSERVE them. There's the one where a gorilla walks in front of the viewers of a basketball game. The spectators can tell you how many passes the team made but didn't see the gorilla. OR the really fun one (and you can try this one with your own camcorder for a laugh) is a stranger walks up to someone and asks for directions. After speaking a few minutes, two men carrying a large door down the sidewalk have to walk between the "victim" and the stranger needing directions. The door passes and the conversation continues getting the stranger his directions. Though the victim didn't notice that the stranger he's now talking to is a totally different person than the one he was talking to prior to the door. Different height, looks, clothing, and even his voice is different. He asks, "Does anything seem differernt to you now?" and the victim often replies no. Check it out at this link.
I've been telling my kids since they were old enough to understand that they aren't very OBSERVANT. They can "clean" their room and not see the candy wrappers, dirty socks, video game wires, stuffed animals, dusty furniture, or anything else. They pronounce it clean when it's nowhere NEAR it. They do other chores like dishes the exact same way. Puddles of water are left for me to step in when I go to find all the dishes they didn't NOTICE. (because it was sitting on the counter next to the rest of the dishes in the sink. They don't see it EVEN THOUGH they have to move it to put the dish drain there on the counter where it was.) I could come up with many more examples.
Well now there have been scientific experiments done to PROVE that we only see "what we are looking for" and are quite likely to MISS other things entirely. We SEE them but fail to OBSERVE them. There's the one where a gorilla walks in front of the viewers of a basketball game. The spectators can tell you how many passes the team made but didn't see the gorilla. OR the really fun one (and you can try this one with your own camcorder for a laugh) is a stranger walks up to someone and asks for directions. After speaking a few minutes, two men carrying a large door down the sidewalk have to walk between the "victim" and the stranger needing directions. The door passes and the conversation continues getting the stranger his directions. Though the victim didn't notice that the stranger he's now talking to is a totally different person than the one he was talking to prior to the door. Different height, looks, clothing, and even his voice is different. He asks, "Does anything seem differernt to you now?" and the victim often replies no. Check it out at this link.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Illuminati vs Humanity
Yes, I know it's been a long time but it's been stressful and busy around here. I've still been unable to locate this wonderful economic recovery the news (and our government) keeps insisting is happening. There was ONE WEEK where quite a few (for these times) jobs opened up and I actually managed to get an interview or two. No job though.
Then our fair city got attacked by evil "spew planes" spreading (non-existent?) Chem-trails all over the sky and the weather turned bleak with the white-out sky and my girl friend got sick again and had to go back to the doctor. She's ok now and we're trying some "alternative" methods to make her healthy. Seems to have stopped her decline too. We shall see.
While the gas prices continue to hold their ridiculously high levels, I read a news article that says we haven't even BEGUN to use up the worlds oil reserves. And we've got our young men and women fighting and dying in Iraq where I'm beginning to believe they were sent so the US could STOP the flow of oil and drive the prices up. How many people realize just how many BILLIONS of dollars Cheney and his oil company made doing business with Iraq (illegally through European formed companies set up to facilitate this) DURING the UN sanctioned and US led "embargo". Embargo apparently didn't mean don't do business with them, it meant no one but 'us' can do business with them.
Now we have an election year in which we get to choose between two "skull and bones" members. I really want to see a "none of the above" on the ballot. Bush talks like a conservative but his actions are that of a liberal. Kerry changes from one thing to another each time he opens his mouth, so you never know for sure where he stands on anything, just that he lies a lot. But then it's easy to tell when a politician is LYING. Their lips move!
We've also had these mysterious "cell phone?" towers pop up all over the planet. Even in places where there are NO people and NO cell phone service. How many of you have actually SEEN a cell phone antenna? It's a teeny thing. Look at the one ON or IN your cell phone. I don't know what these towers are for, but I DO know they ain't for cell phones. I'm not happy about the new surveillance cameras showing up on every street light support either.
There are too many strange things happening in the world now that just makes no sense. And I've learned the mass media is OWNED by who ever or what ever is in control of this ever downward spiral we find ourselves in so the only thing you can count on learning from them is some untruth the powers that be WANT you to believe. Well, I don't believe it anymore.
I make the following predictions. The summer of 2004 will be rough in the USA. There will be "terrorist attacks" which will be used to further erode what little freedoms we appear to have left. While the majority of us are watching horrible things unfold on our TV news programs, the world "leaders" will be meeting this summer in the Bohemian Grove making another sacrifice to their big stone owl god. We're being "played" against each other. Race against race, brother against brother, religion against religion, country against country, and while this is all happening representatives from ALL of those parties will be partying TOGETHER beneath the stone owl in Northern California, laughing at what fools we humans are and relishing the time to come when those few of us who are left are merely slaves. It's too bad they don't realize humanity is waking up slowly, but it IS waking up and WE outnumber THEM.
Just say NO! Some websites you may want to check out for ummm... "interesting" reading are.
Jim Marrs
Alex Jones
Steve Quayle
Educate Yourself And on this last one some super interesting reading is "The Adventures of Don and Carol Croft"
Your Friendly Neighborhood Conspiracy Nut - MDW
Yes, I know it's been a long time but it's been stressful and busy around here. I've still been unable to locate this wonderful economic recovery the news (and our government) keeps insisting is happening. There was ONE WEEK where quite a few (for these times) jobs opened up and I actually managed to get an interview or two. No job though.
Then our fair city got attacked by evil "spew planes" spreading (non-existent?) Chem-trails all over the sky and the weather turned bleak with the white-out sky and my girl friend got sick again and had to go back to the doctor. She's ok now and we're trying some "alternative" methods to make her healthy. Seems to have stopped her decline too. We shall see.
While the gas prices continue to hold their ridiculously high levels, I read a news article that says we haven't even BEGUN to use up the worlds oil reserves. And we've got our young men and women fighting and dying in Iraq where I'm beginning to believe they were sent so the US could STOP the flow of oil and drive the prices up. How many people realize just how many BILLIONS of dollars Cheney and his oil company made doing business with Iraq (illegally through European formed companies set up to facilitate this) DURING the UN sanctioned and US led "embargo". Embargo apparently didn't mean don't do business with them, it meant no one but 'us' can do business with them.
Now we have an election year in which we get to choose between two "skull and bones" members. I really want to see a "none of the above" on the ballot. Bush talks like a conservative but his actions are that of a liberal. Kerry changes from one thing to another each time he opens his mouth, so you never know for sure where he stands on anything, just that he lies a lot. But then it's easy to tell when a politician is LYING. Their lips move!
We've also had these mysterious "cell phone?" towers pop up all over the planet. Even in places where there are NO people and NO cell phone service. How many of you have actually SEEN a cell phone antenna? It's a teeny thing. Look at the one ON or IN your cell phone. I don't know what these towers are for, but I DO know they ain't for cell phones. I'm not happy about the new surveillance cameras showing up on every street light support either.
There are too many strange things happening in the world now that just makes no sense. And I've learned the mass media is OWNED by who ever or what ever is in control of this ever downward spiral we find ourselves in so the only thing you can count on learning from them is some untruth the powers that be WANT you to believe. Well, I don't believe it anymore.
I make the following predictions. The summer of 2004 will be rough in the USA. There will be "terrorist attacks" which will be used to further erode what little freedoms we appear to have left. While the majority of us are watching horrible things unfold on our TV news programs, the world "leaders" will be meeting this summer in the Bohemian Grove making another sacrifice to their big stone owl god. We're being "played" against each other. Race against race, brother against brother, religion against religion, country against country, and while this is all happening representatives from ALL of those parties will be partying TOGETHER beneath the stone owl in Northern California, laughing at what fools we humans are and relishing the time to come when those few of us who are left are merely slaves. It's too bad they don't realize humanity is waking up slowly, but it IS waking up and WE outnumber THEM.
Just say NO! Some websites you may want to check out for ummm... "interesting" reading are.
Jim Marrs
Alex Jones
Steve Quayle
Educate Yourself And on this last one some super interesting reading is "The Adventures of Don and Carol Croft"
Your Friendly Neighborhood Conspiracy Nut - MDW
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
But the Cook Had Good HEALTH in Mind
Businesses are leaving our country in droves. It simply costs too much to do business here. We've got the unions wanting always higher wages. And ridiculous laws and taxes and business license fees levied on everything a business may need to do business. Then add OSHA which wants to make sure you have written instructions for your employees on how to use a mop without injuring yourself. (If my employee couldn't handle a mop I deserve to have my business fail for hiring him or her in the first place). But most of all we have a few million too many lawyers and few million too many greedy people who are looking for someone else to pay their way because they can't find a job that will pay the bills and aren't willing to cut their expenses to make it.
Witness the ladies who just sued a restaurant because they found an unused condom in their soup. At least it shows that those working in the kitchen are concerned about healthy practices. I don't know any of the details of this case. But it's likely that the women were being bitchy (as many of them do from time to time) and giving the workers a lot of grief and one of them decided to shock them into leaving. The ladies won the lawsuit (as they should have) but I'm also equally certain that they got millions more than any pain or suffering they encountered. The amount of the settlement was not announced but then I'm still wondering why on earth several years ago a woman was awarded $7 million for foolishly removing the lid of fresh hot coffee, putting it between her legs in the drive-through at McDonald's and driving out over the speed bumps. Which only means McD's is down $7 million and from now on except at home all of the rest of us only get lukewarm coffee. It's just too risky to do business here these days.
Businesses are leaving our country in droves. It simply costs too much to do business here. We've got the unions wanting always higher wages. And ridiculous laws and taxes and business license fees levied on everything a business may need to do business. Then add OSHA which wants to make sure you have written instructions for your employees on how to use a mop without injuring yourself. (If my employee couldn't handle a mop I deserve to have my business fail for hiring him or her in the first place). But most of all we have a few million too many lawyers and few million too many greedy people who are looking for someone else to pay their way because they can't find a job that will pay the bills and aren't willing to cut their expenses to make it.
Witness the ladies who just sued a restaurant because they found an unused condom in their soup. At least it shows that those working in the kitchen are concerned about healthy practices. I don't know any of the details of this case. But it's likely that the women were being bitchy (as many of them do from time to time) and giving the workers a lot of grief and one of them decided to shock them into leaving. The ladies won the lawsuit (as they should have) but I'm also equally certain that they got millions more than any pain or suffering they encountered. The amount of the settlement was not announced but then I'm still wondering why on earth several years ago a woman was awarded $7 million for foolishly removing the lid of fresh hot coffee, putting it between her legs in the drive-through at McDonald's and driving out over the speed bumps. Which only means McD's is down $7 million and from now on except at home all of the rest of us only get lukewarm coffee. It's just too risky to do business here these days.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Damn you! Here! Have some gifts!
I love Brazil. Our country with its infernal, quite likely unconstitutional, privacy invading Homeland Security Act has managed to offend Brazil. In response to us fingerprinting and photographing people entering our country, Brazil set up a similar program for AMERICANS entering Brazil.
But most Brazilians LIKE Americans and many depend on American tourism to make their living. So the Rio De Janeiro tourist bureau instituted a "gift program" to compensate the tourists for the hassle they were being put through just because our two governments can't get along and play nice.
At least the businessmen and citizens of Brazil know how to play nice.
I love Brazil. Our country with its infernal, quite likely unconstitutional, privacy invading Homeland Security Act has managed to offend Brazil. In response to us fingerprinting and photographing people entering our country, Brazil set up a similar program for AMERICANS entering Brazil.
But most Brazilians LIKE Americans and many depend on American tourism to make their living. So the Rio De Janeiro tourist bureau instituted a "gift program" to compensate the tourists for the hassle they were being put through just because our two governments can't get along and play nice.
At least the businessmen and citizens of Brazil know how to play nice.
