This is a true story - I was that retail soldier - and, a little
reminder of the kind of thing shop staff have to put up with all year round.
I was managing a food/non-food superstore a few years ago and a
customer asked to see me. I found my way to the customer service desk
and, although I am six feet tall, this guy seemed to tower above me. His
girth was wider than mine too and as I looked up at him I prayed that this was
not going to end in tears - mine.
I stuck my hand out to shake his but he ignored it and started
bawling: "Lime marmalade. You've got none." I went through the
motions of saying that I would check for him but he told me that someone had
already been to the stock room. "Why haven't you got any?" I
told him I didn't know but I would find out and let him know by phone that
afternoon.
"What?" he bellowed, "I am not leaving this shop
without lime marmalade."
"But we haven't any in stock, sir."
"Don't call me sir. Stop patronising me."
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to patronise you. I apologise for
not having lime marmalade in the store but I will have to contact the buying
team in head office to see if they can get it on the inventory."
"Ridiculous," he shouted and with that he threw the
empty handbasket he was carrying at me, told me to stuff my shop up my arse and
stormed away. The wire basket struck my chin but, heroically, I didn't
wince.
In a mid sigh as I watched him leave, I spotted that he had
turned round and was heading back my way. "I'll be back tomorrow at 10
o'clock to buy a jar of Rose's lime marmalade and you better have it or I'll
not be responsible for my actions." He turned on his heels and
walked briskly out of the door. I sent someone out to a rival supermarket
for a jar of lime marmalade and kept it locked in a drawer. The next
morning, the clock ticked in High Noon fashion. 10 o'clock, no customer.
10.15, no customer. 10.30, nope. 12.00, nada. He didn't show
up at all, ever again, to my knowledge. "What a (s)lime ball, I
thought, in a moment of retail blasphemy.
People in shops have much to put up with day in, day out.
Shops, Shoppers, Shopping & Shafted
The two books in this volume emerged from my long experience as a retail manager and, for a short time, one of the unemployed. “Retail Confidential” was first published in 2010 and it takes an honest, practical and cynical look at shops, shoppers and shopping. One or two critics have not taken too kindly to my sarcasm at times but my gracious reaction is to tell them to go and write their own books. This is not a theoretical text book. This is real life. “Much Calamity & The Redundance Kid” is an account of the job losses in my career followed by some serious and tongue-in-cheek advice for people struggling with the trauma of unemployment but determined to rise to the challenge of finding new work. The first book covers shops, shoppers and shopping. The second book is the shafted part. Both books have had minor text corrections and some layout changes. For freelance writing commissions and invitations to talk to business students, company teams, etc please contact me via joecushnan@aol.com
ISBN: 9781786101938
Type: Paperback
Pages: 359
Published: 6 October 2015
Price: £7.99
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