Coworkers: Part 80 - Pierced

     The customer wore a painters cap, stained striped shirt, and frayed blue jeans. The record store was not the bait shop, he appeared uncomfortable. Only three places spelled home to that man. Trailer park box, even though neighbors probably swiped all his Pit Bulls. Bottom end strip bars, where 40 year old broads flashed on counter tops for tequila shots. And any construction site that didn't know him, where he hired on as General Labor, doing the sweatiest work.
     In short, bottom feeder. Definitely not a customer. He'd walked in with two CDs. Refund time. Cool green for that passed out 40 year old slag in his truck.
     By the looks of him, he was getting angrier and angrier. Because he couldn't understand the counter clerk. Female.
     I couldn't comprehend most of the girls, either. Most of them now jabbered like infants.
     Medication? Some baked brain game? Nooo.

     Except for Mandy, all the women had decided to get their tongues pierced.
    Pair of big ole silver bearings, size of green peas. Tongue bruised, swollen. They were learning to talk all over again.
     "Aah woo wha ooh wee wun?" Heather asked.
     "Huh?"
     "Wuu waa way wee wun?"
     "What? I wanna a refund!"
     "Waa wha ahh thay."
     "What?"
     God. Where was Stacey? I didn't want to deal with that loser. I'd only be rude.
     Stacey's tongue had been pierced for years. In fact, I think all the other girls had adopted a follow the leader mentality.
     Pat, Heather, Sharon, Clarita. All holding their mouths, saying, "Eee huuu thoo baa."
     It hurts so bad.
     What did they expect?
     "Hey," I walked up. "Can I help you with anything?"
     "I need a refund," Bottom Rent snapped. "Got two CDs here. That girl don't speak English."
     "Ahh aath hmm ff eee waa ahh -- "
     I waved Heather to stop. She was a terrific worker. Striking features. Unfortunately, she now sounded like she'd escaped from Weevil Willie's Sideshow.
     "Alright, what do you got?" I asked.
     "Alan Jackson and Michael Jackson. I don't want 'em. I want cash."
     Don't we all, I thought. "Receipt?" I suggested, though I already knew the answer.
     "I ain't got no damn receipt! I need cash. These were ... were ... birthday gifts! Oh yeah, birthday gifts! 'N I already own 'em!"
     Like hell. Both discs were in shrink wrap, and they weren't record club. So ...
     "Fill out this form," I handed him a refund slip. I wasn't exactly a Manager, but I could process this cellar rat.
     "What! How come? These weren't stolen! I don't want my name turned over to the police."
     "Anytime we make a refund without a receipt we need to tell some Corporate flunky we weren't just giving a refund to ourselves."
     "Huh? Oh." He began filling the slip, then must have realized what I just said. "Hey! Are ya'll hiring?"
     "No." Idiot.
     "Maa wee gaw wah baa baa caa."
     Pat, rattling something about Mandy. No idea what. I ignored her.
     "Tah Daa Poe feth ahh aba th thung."
     Something about The Professor.
     Sharon walked up. "Daa Poe feth ahh ith gonna thmaak ith fayth."
     Two girls, boiling at The Professor. Wasn't it lunch break yet?
     "Excuse me," I told Bottom Rent. Went to the Listening Center.
     The Professor anticipated me. "I didn't say anything. I just asked why they were acting completely retarded."
     Sharon and Pat pibble pabbled noisily.
     "Retarded is a poor choice of words, Dude. The girls all got pierced."
     "That -- Still, why would that make them -- "
     "Show him."
     Both girls rolled out their tongues.
     The Professor jumped like he'd seen an octopus. He stared, then blanched. From his expression, I knew he had tumbled into Amnesia Land.
     "My God! Why would they -- What possibly possessed -- Don't they realize -- Surely that hurts?"
     "Eee huuu thoo baa."
     "Still ... ahh ... ahh ... ahh ... "
     His brain had locked. The ladies began to torment him.
     "Thith naw ahh wee gaw pithed," Pat giggled.
     "This isn't all they got pierced," I translated.
     The Professor reddened.

     "Uuu wanna thee?" Sharon mocked.
     The Professor understood that, his mouth opened slightly.
     "Pith off, thippa cub lootha."
     Sharon and Pat burst out laughing. Truth to tell, so did I. The Professor was confused.
     "I mean, why would -- What would tempt them to pierce -- "
     "It's what women do, Professor. Tattooed, pierced, and ... most likely," I threw a look, "shaved. Just like me."
     The ladies exploded, The Professor flushed crimson.
     "Uuu doh wanna noo."
     "No, I don't want to know. Go away," I told them.
     They walked off, giggling like grade schoolers.
     By now, The Professor had recovered his composure, though not his brain. "Uhh, you think maybe Pat ... she is cute and ... you think I might -- "
     "She's too big for you," I cut him off. "Besides, she ain't one of those strippers you tuck five dollar bills into."
     His face drained of color. Dirty secret exposed.
     Up front, Heather waved. Bottom Rent must have finally remembered basic spelling. Joy.
     "How much is it?" I asked, glanced at the refund slip.
     "Uuu bedda loo aa tha."
     I ignored Bumble Mouth.
     "Around $25.00. Sound correct?"
     "Hell, yeah," Bottom Rent answered.
     "Uuu lithin. Ith aww ffftt aa."
     "Whatever." I was getting a headache, trying to decipher Heather.
     I rang up the Alan Jackson and Michael Jackson CDs. Came to $25.96. Forked over the cash, he left without a word.
     "Aaa caan bee leaf uuu dih tha," Heather warbled.
     "Can't believe I did what? Paid some goober to blow?"
     "No! Loo," she thrust the refund slip into my face.
     This time, I did look.
     Despite my prediction, Bottom Rent had filled out the form. All the form.
     His section, and the store section.

NAME: Fuck You
ADDRESS: Get Screwed
TELEPHONE: Eat Shit
---------------------------------
CASHIER: Retarded Redhead
MANAGER: Mister Shitty

     Hmm, hadn't been called Mister Shitty before.
     Two points for creativity.
     Stacey, Pat, The Boss, Joe, everyone howled.
     We sent the slip "as is" to Corporate with all the weekly paperwork.

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Customers: Part 17 - Crackheads‏

    The couple waited at the front counter.  Nothing in hand.
    "Hey, can I -- "
    "Is this place hiring?"  the male interrupted.  Loudly.
    "I love music!"  the woman added.  "I'm a expert for music."
    Tank tops, both of them, faded and shabby.  Skin parched, leather brown.  Skinny, wrinkly arms.  They looked mid 40's, though I gauged them to be early 30's.
    Pure white trash.
    "Not sure who's coming and going,"  I replied, evasively.  "And The Boss is off today."
    "You got a application?"
    "Two applications!  I need a job, too!"
    "What kinda discount can I get once working starts?"
    "Are CD's free?"  the male demanded.
    "How about concert ticket?"
    "I want to meet me  -- "
    "Oh my God, will I get to meet George Strait?"
    "God dammit, don't start up about George."
    "Too late.  I'm already getting squishy thinking about him,"  she panted.
    The couple jabbered like their mouths were on fire.  Their mouths were on fire.  So were their jaws.  Both suffered "cockroach jaw," the involuntary twitching of their lower mandible.  Telltale meth addicts.  We'd never hire these human abortions, but I still had to go through the motions and hand, then accept, their applications.  Just as they had to go through the motions for their unemployment or welfare checks.
    Because we live in a society where every member is valuable.  Special.
    Even fuck-ups.
    I pulled out the empty register drawer.  Empty.  No applications.  Damn.
    "Gimme a second,"  I said.  "I'll print up some applications."
    "Is there a pen?"
    "Open your eyes, you dumb bitch!"
    "Record shops don't drug test, don't they?"
    "Shit, them test don't mean nothing.  I'll get the neighbor's pee."
    I found the settings and began document loading.  I tried to tune the crackheads out.  I flashed back to drama class, Cal State.  Eugene O'Neil.  All God's Children Gots Wings.  O'Neil must have been hammered.
    "Mama, the way you're leaning cross that counter ... I see titty."
    "I lost my bra."
    "We need to go to King's down the street."
    "They ain't got no bras."
    "I said King's.  Said nothing about bra.  Pay attention, bitch."
    "Fuck you."
    "That an offer?"
    Both laughed.  Their teeth resembled rotten pickets.
    I hit PRINT.  I wanted these waste products gone.
    "Applications are printing over on the other side,"  I advised as I began walking.  "I'll be right back."
    As usual, the printer took a minute to warm up.  I suddenly wondered how fragrant they reeked.  Both seemed allergic to soap and laundry products.  I'd have to ask Mandy to walk up and tell me if we needed one can of Lysol or two.  If I knew Mandy, she'd recommend a flamethrower.
    "Hey!  Hey!  We can't wait fellow!  We gotta go!"
    "Yeah, thanks.  Maybe we'll come back and do them forms.  Bye."
    I did have a guardian angel.  I started humming a Beach Boys tune.
    Mandy came when I called.  Made a face, wheeled, returned with the fan.  Set it to high.
    Then she asked.  "Where's the March Of Dimes display?"
    "What?"
    "On the backup counter.  That clear plastic box.  Where customers leave their loose change for crippled children."
    "Isn't it ... right ... there?"  I craned my neck.
    "It was there this morning, gone now.  They stole it when you walked away.  That's why they left."
    I knew Mandy was right.
    "There was maybe three dollars in there.  Nothing."
    She walked back to the Listening Center.  I tucked the printed application forms in the drawer.
    Gazed past the parking lot, scanned Camp Bowie.
    Didn't see them.

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Coworkers: Part 81 - Brown Jar Delivery

     Skip cruised in at noon. Wore his usual yellow plaid shirt and striped Bermuda shorts. Not Blockbuster's mandated blue and khaki. The Boss was off, so there would be no, "When are you buying regulation apparel, Skippy?" followed by, "I'm going to. Swear to God. Any day now."
     Skip had other priorities.
     Joe rolled in five minutes later. "Hey, Worth. Skip-Dogg in?"
     "Yes." I anticipated his next question. "He's wearing faded plaid and those short shorts."
     "That sucks balls." Joe scanned emails quickly. "Think we'll get inspected today?"
     "Mmm ... no. DM will be point for our booth at the baseball park."
     "Righteous." Joe immediately untucked the blue shirt and walked to the back.
     Skip was an affable man. Cheery, friendly, full of good humor, and full of substances. He was unaware of his probated status, which currently stood at two strikes. Skip was Sharon's neighbor, she had recommended him, though she confessed she didn't know him well. Within two weeks we realized he had a serious drinking problem.
     Most employees were tolerant. We'd all been late or missing because of drugs, booze, sex, looking for clothes, being without a car in a strange neighborhood, or a combination thereof. The Boss was less forgiving. Over the years, the aging hippie had become cynical. I'm certain he still believed the world could be made better ... but not with the current inhabitants. He now ruthlessly applied the old Sound Warehouse rule: 

Has alcohol use or substance use ever interfered with your employment performance?

     When attendance or performance became irregular, The Boss cut people swiftly.
     Skip was a classic, free fall fuck-up. Missing time ... and missing money.
     A week earlier, his cash register had been $10.00 short at the end of his shift. Not 7¢ or $1.43 or $14.06. Ten Dollars Even. When confronted he shrugged, apologized, confessed he didn't know. An hour later, he offered a fresh explanation. Sharon had cracked his register and pocketed a bill. Sharon, the neighbor who found him the job, had jacked him.
     This is hardly the forum to repeat Sharon's reaction. Suffice to say, Sharon's temper, and stamina, were remarkable.

     Stacey came in after 2:00. I waited for Skip so I could lunch.
     "Skippy-Doo wearing his usual?" she asked.
     "Hot pants, honey."
     "Thanks for the image," she laughed. "If the Boss is letting Skipster slide, I'm not going to be dress code enforcer. Where's Skip's head today?"
     "Cuckoo Land. Already tried to borrow $10.00 from me, then tried Joe. Looks like he's now trying Mandy."
     "Moron. He must be desperate. Mandy never brings her purse inside. She never contributes to birthday cards, cakes, bereavements, or goodbyes"
     "She's her mother," I said briefly.
     "I'm phoning Shelley to come in half hour early. I'm pulling Skip off register at 5:30, and having Joe count his drawer. You'll be here?"
     "I'll stick around."
     The trap was set. It wasn't just alcohol with Skip. He was addicted to painkillers. The Blockbuster drug test was a joke.

     Shelley manned register, Stacey watched Listening Bar. I stood behind Joe, while Skip explained how his register was $50.00 short.
     "I know what happened," he said. "But I don't think you're going to like it."
     "Try me," Joe replied.
     "I had to go outside for a second. Stacey watched my register. She stole the money."
     I didn't even bother to roll my eyes.
     "You're right," Joe spoke, "I don't like it."
     "I mean, I don't know what else -- "
     "Was this after you made all those phone calls?"
     "I don't know what -- "
     "She watched front register while you went outside and two business associates sold you a brown jar of Vicoden pills?"
     Druggies ... so little discretion.
     "Phone tomorrow, Skip," I offered. "Plead your case to The Boss."
     Skip went home. Never phoned, never returned.

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Coworkers: Part 82 - Blood For Drugs

     The store was convinced Winston was stealing. Not piddly, random thefts, like nicking a bottle of water without paying, "borrowing" a used CD, then forgetting to return it. Boosting was happening on a major scale. Every week there was shrink of 20 - 40 units. New Release DVD's. Action or Comedy blockbusters. Managers could not pin down who took them, but we knew when they were snatched.
     Days when Winston worked.
     All Managers cast a reluctant eye on him. His hours had been trimmed to 8 per week. He worked second jobs, but two employers had fired him already. Drug buddies found him a job moving furniture; a future appearance in a COPS episode seemed inevitable. All the guys were serious users, Winston part and parcel.
     In my opinion most people messed with drugs, experimented with drugs, or had personal problems with drugs at one time or another. By most people, I mean 90% or higher. Controlled substances, alcohol, nicotine, reefer, prescription medication, pain killers, sleeping pills, happy pills, call 'em what you will. For some souls drugs lost their allure, while others sank deeper in their thrall.
     In-store stoners were generally male, while most boozers were female. The majority of girls could easily drink the gents under the table.
     Winston descended from weed to speed to ice. In a fabulous incident, he and friends were driving to the blood bank to sell plasma. Sticky red pints. Enroute, their car broke down on the highway. One of them got it running, then noticed a flat tire. Spare was pulled, flat removed, and then ... both tires rolled down the embankment and splashed into the river. A passenger who raced down hill in pursuit, fell and broke his wrist. Meanwhile, the tires floated downstream, soon to be claimed by gulls and turtles.
     The guys abandoned the car and hitch hiked towards town. Luck returned her fickle attentions, and a flatbed truck offered four dirty, homeless looking bums a ride. The broken wrist was mended in Emergency, courtesy the taxpayer's dime (in case you wondered where your tax dollars go, Pilgrim). Bum squad scurried to the blood bank, sold their polluted goo, bought meth, scrambled home.
     "Because I was dehydrated, because my bloodstream was low flow, I had the bestest high ever. I thought I was dead, it was wet dream awesome."
     None of those tweakers earned enough to maintain a habit. They couldn't peddle blood for drugs anytime soon. They were cash strapped.
     Furniture went missing when they worked their other job. DVD's went missing when Winston worked at ours.
     Whoever was boosting was notoriously lazy. And stupid.
     They stole primarily from the large end-caps and cardboard displayers. I hatched a plan with Mandy and Pat. Emptied out the cardboard displayers and taped huge red X's on the back interior. Reloaded the DVD's and angled them towards the Listening Center. I then climbed the ladder and began realigning a surveillance camera towards the traps. Pat and Mandy shouted directions until everything was just right. The trap was set. Once a box was emptied, those red X's would jump out. We could rewind security videos and make the bust.
     We did not want to do this. No one, from The Boss down, liked the situation. Yet store shrink in DVD's and games had drawn the eye of the Loss Prevention division.
     The plan never worked.
     Overnight, the stealing stopped. Radar, guardian angel, inheritance. Who knows?
     Winston's hours were cut to 4. Then to every other week. Finally, once a month. This was The Boss's usual method. Keep people on the payroll, but chop hours until they were forced to find work elsewhere.
     Winston gave notice.

     He cleaned up ... eventually ... dumped buddies and habits.
     A couple of times, he asked if the store was hiring.
     We never were.

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Shoplifting: Case #08 - The Plate

     Impulse theft. He'd parked a muddy red Toyota outside the main windows. Male, early 20's, chunky and pasty. Looked like the Pillsbury doughboy's crime prone, dumb cousin. When the alarm rang out he froze, brows furrowed. Thinking.
     Ahh, the criminal mind. Then he bolted -- must've remembered lunch.
     Dropped his keys once on the sidewalk and accidentally kicked them. Then he dropped them again as he fumbled with his locked car door. As heists go, this was terribly lame.
     Derek and Professor charged out the door as if the perp had nicked their cigarettes. I walked to the cube and nonchalantly wrote down his license plate number. Phoned the police while Mandy told me the car make, model, color, number of doors, etc. ... We had plenty of time. The red rocket wouldn't start.
     Rrrr rrrr rrr oooohhmmm. Rrrr rrrr rrr ooohhmmm.
     Professor pounded on the hapless car hood. "Surrender! Confess! We caught you on video!"
     Worse, Derek had disappeared near the car's radiator.
     Mandy and I argued whether God's will or fate had cursed this hombre with the terrible misfortune to be so utterly stupid.
     With the sixth crank, the reluctant roadster wheezed into life. Jesse James punched it in reverse, then dropped his jaw onto the floor.

     Derek had succeeded in unscrewing and removing the front license plate, which he raised high like a championship belt.
     Cool trophy.
     Police nailed him two blocks west. Car ran out of gasoline at the intersection.
     Girlfriend's car.
     Actually, it was her daddy's car and he already had opinions about this rebel Romeo.

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Coworkers: Part 83 - Hit And Run

     Stacey was holding court.
     "I was telling everyone. I was late back from break because of a hit and run."
     "Are you hurt?" Sonya asked.
     "I'm fine, my car is fine," Stacey reassured. "I wasn't involved. But I was a witness."
     "Someone jump the light?" I guessed.
     "No, this was at Jack In The Box. The drive through line."
     "Hell, rear ended?"

     "Yeah. Guy in front of me, a crappy yellow Fiesta, bumped into a silver Honda waiting for his order. So the Honda guy gets out, looks at the scratch, starts yelling. The Fiesta guys starts laying on his horn."
     "Worried his milkshake was going to melt," Mandy joked.
     "The Honda guy ain't moving. He's on his cell phone, probably calling the cops."
     "During lunch hour? Dream on."
     "Next moment, the driver of the Fiesta hops out of his car and takes off."
     "What? Fistfight?"
     "No! Down the street. Running, like a rabbit," Stacey continued.
     "He left his car behind? What an idiot."
     "Complete idiot. His car, his license plate, his registration, his insurance card. Cops showed up ... and ... muffin head left his wallet on passenger seat with driver's license inside."
     "This is great!" I laughed.
     "If the guy had just stayed it was nothing. I couldn't even see a mark on the Honda."
     "He wasn't thinking. Fool," Sonya walked off.
     "Anyway, that's where I was. Filling out a police accident report."
     "Hit-n-run has a new definition," Mandy grinned.
     "You said it."

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Coworkers: Part 84 - Turn The Page‏

     The announcement was long overdue.
     Mighty Blockbuster had fallen.
     News swept like prairie fire across the chain, across music retail.
     Rich, powerful, unbeatable Blockbuster had thrown in the towel of defeat. They were quitting the music business.
     Blockbuster Music would be no more. To use Lonestar slang, our besieged owners had cut & run.
     Running for their financial lives.
     The demise had begun, auspiciously enough, five years earlier. With a flourish, Blockbuster initiated sweeping acquisitions into a realm they ill understood. For when the far reaching overlords launched themselves into music retail, they were at their peak. Their peak of power, of influence, of arrogance.
     Within five years, Blockbuster would be swallowed whole by Viacom. Next, it would be grabbed and shaken by its ankles, lucrative cash flow diverted to purchase Paramount Pictures. Finally, the entire music division would be sold off to bankruptcy refugees at a bargain basement price.
     The history of Blockbuster Music was a sorry one of decline and fall.

     Blockbuster, no matter how earnest or sincere their intentions might have been, made blunder after blunder with their shiny musical box.
     First, they alienated current employees and threatened potential ones. Employee turnover increased because of, or during, the Blockbuster reign. As new owners, they had entered with a conservative, fundamentalist agenda. They began drug testing all new applicants, then instituted the hated dress code. Any potential employee in this country who was as smart as Fifi the Poodle could scam the drug test. Kits and cheats were readily available.
     The dress code was far more insidious and destructive.
     Other than Lisa, we hired no "club rats." And Lisa was hired because Stacey and I lobbied for her. The store lost her, and she became Rob's right hand. Still, most people who went to clubs weekly or who were into the underground balked at the dress code.
     Understand, Blockbuster analysts assumed customers had become blind goobers. Shoppers couldn't recognize the hired help, even after help asked, "Finding everything alright?" A chest high name tag alone no longer sufficed. Field employees had to wear uniforms, a khaki and blue costume. Blockbuster honchos did not follow their own dress code, but they were masters. Employees were servants, treated accordingly. We remained a record store, but instead of being a cool chain, we were a shackled chain.
     Blockbuster's street cachet sucked with anyone under age 50.

     Years earlier, with the passing of Sound Warehouse, many employees bolted for the quieter world of a national book chain. For the later Blockbuster crew, that opportunity had passed into lore. Oh, the book chain still existed. Old colleagues, Dan, Trina, and Larry still toiled in the sleepy realm. Yet, the golden period had given way to harsher economics. Workers were no longer valued assets. Like employees across Retail Nation, they were servants. And treated accordingly.
     As months rolled into years, employees with less and less interest filled the ranks of Blockbuster. Employees who had no passion for music, groups, even movies. A third of the crew answered questions with a shrug. Blockbuster had that effect on people. We couldn't chase deadbeats out the store fast enough.

     Blockbuster's patronizing attitude towards customers cost them dearly. Our video rental section had been a solid earner. Prices were quadrupled, then the section swept away. Rental clients were permanently lost. Blockbuster had deceived themselves that music retail, (and then book selling!) would be conquered easily. They barreled into the fray on top of the world. In the video realm, they had been omnipotent. Competitors had been smashed, film studios harkened to their decrees, customers had few choices other than to pay non competitive rental prices.
     Electronic superstores entered the arena and low balled CD prices as loss leaders. Customers walked through those doors for cut price music, then purchased headphones or speakers and extended warranties. Blockbuster did not react. Market share was surrendered. Week by week, more and more.
     To attract customers, stores offered candy. Corporate brains told managers to hand out pieces of hard candy to entering customers. Dentists across the land applauded.
     Then came the book section, launched without any fanfare, any strategy, any support. Six months later, book sections were slashed and burned. If customers thought corporate management had lost their bearings, they were devastatingly accurate.
     File sharing and down loading emerged, and Blockbuster froze like a bewildered ostrich. They recovered their game plan quickly, however, and raised prices.
     Customer reaction was not reassuring.

     Camp Bowie employees either recalled better, pre-Blockbuster days, or they were later hires, accustomed to sorry stewards. We worked for the corporate equivalent of the spoiled, opinionated child. Common enough. Look hard enough and you'll see talentless blowhards singing, acting, running a business into the dirt, leading a nation to the brink. Happened every week, you just hated it when you became collateral damage.
     Stacey quit at one point, came back. Sharon had been released, came back. Angela left, Derek moved, Sarah climbed away. Pat found a second job, in time, the music store became her secondary job. I interviewed with corporate headhunters, while The Boss trawled his network. Blockbuster.poisoned morale.
     Consequently, one would think we would be thrilled, relieved to hear our incompetent bosses were sinking into the sunset.
     Not so.
     Because we had been sold by the misguided, overconfident palisade to the struggling trailer park. To a chain that had mismanaged itself into bankruptcy.
     Sound Warehouse had been purchased five years earlier for $185 million dollars. Super Club purchased for $150 M.Blockbuster purchased others. Six chains had been acquired to create Blockbuster Music.
     Viacom dumped the division for $115 million.
     We were a fire sale, a cheap commodity. We understood we would be valued as bargain goods.
     Discards.
     No one felt eager. Nor optimistic. Jackals were on the way.
     We tidied the store and awaited the buzzards.
     Bye bye, Blockbuster.

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