I worked at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore around 2000 or 2001. I have always been an avid reader and people told me that I should give them a try. Now, I know that I'm not a people person, never have been, but I thought "what the heck?", but I knew down deep inside that I would hate it.
First of all, this big *** company is CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP! Their pay is a frickin' joke. Anyway, there were 4-5 managers, with at least 1, or sometimes 2 always in the store. I started out on the morning shift. The store opens at 9, so employees are required to be there by 7. Of course, if I got there too early, the others are standing around talking boring stuff, so I would either wait in my truck for the door to open, or sit in the coffee shop nearby and watch door open.
People actually start coming in right at 9, and the minute that occurred, I would head toward the back. The main supervisor was a real b**** and she got upset with me a few times, although I was doing the best that I could. One day, however, she went too far. I was at the info booth and this guy came up wanting something. This b**** started on me about something, BUT the only thing is, she did it in front of a customer. So, I went to the back, really pissed off. At that point, I didn't care what happened, I was going to jump down this woman's throat, and I blasted her. She apologized, but this woman had no idea how to manage people.
I got to where I dreaded going in, didn't care if I was late, the usual thing that occurs when I begin hating a job.
The last 2 days I worked there, I did have fun. There were these stack of books sitting on this table, and they had been sitting there all day. I went over to get them for reshelving, and there was this ol' biddy and her wrinkled *** husband, sitting there. I start to pick up the books, KNOWING THAT THEY HAVEN"T BEEN TOUCHED, and besides this hag is reading a magazine. She says "Those are my books". I said, "No they aren't, these have been sitting here since this morning, and you haven't been here that long". I grabbed them, she tries to take them away, ol' wrinkles gets involved, and I do a slow burn, finally telling this woman, "YOU ARE CRAZY". I walked away, and a little way a manager talked to me. I didn't apologize, but said that I would watch myself.
The next morning, I had decided I was sick of this B.S., and at 7 walked in, and started screwing around with the books, taking them off the shelves and putting them in other locations. I did this for about an hour, and the old manager that I didn't get along with saw what I was doing, and said, "You aren't happy, are you?" I said, "No, I hate it here". She said that my heart wasn't in it, and I said, "THATS RIGHT!"
I didn't mean to ramble, but that was my foray in retail.
