Hi Friends!
On "Throwback Thursday" here's a classic "WTF?" from "back in the day"…
"WTF?" © stevenn beck
It was Christmas vacation. I had a plan to quit college, work two jobs, save some money - and return to school in the fall. I was already working every evening at a department store called Korvettes…in the "drug" department. (My friend Andy worked in the record department; the joke was that h;'d give me records, I'd give him drugs.) Anyway…I felt qualified to work in the drug department... I knew the difference between "Aspirin" and "Excedrin".) It was the OTHER job - the one I started during the vacation - that proved to be a problem. During the day I started worked at a department store called Whites. In the hardware department. (Which is kind of like making the Governor of Alaska the Vice President - potential President really - you know what I mean?)
I knew shouldn't have been working in the damn hardware department. It was a joke. A screw - a hammer, THAT was the extent of my knowledge of hardware. (Not that I'd ever actually used them. "Mr. Handy" I wasn't.) I had failed shop class in 7th grade. My Dad asked the shop teacher why. "Because" he replied "everyone in the class is on their TENTH project. Your son is STILL on his FIRST." It was June. My Dad understood.
The guy from Whites' personnel department who hired put me in the hardware department (even as I protested that I knew absolutely nothing about hardware) - there was a recession going on - "Take it or leave it" he stated. So I tried, I mean - I REALLY tried. I just couldn't ….help any of the customers….my direct supervisor was an older guy named John Easley. If a customer had a question about any other type of equipment - or was looking for some help with a specific problem - I sent him over to John. Because I didn't have a freakin' clue. Not one clue.
ANYWAY….it wasn't easy working eight hours a day in the hardware department when I knew absolutely nothing about the products I was selling. John would watch me aimlessly wander the floor in the hardware department, doing my best to avoid customers, desperately trying to keep a low profile. John was rated on his ability to train and keep new employees. I guess he was desperate to keep me. One day he called me over. (To fire me I assumed.) nope…. "Steve, you need to keep busy" he told me. "And if you're not busy... ya gotta LOOK busy". So John came up with the solution. Every morning he would bring boxes of nails down from the warehouse. He would then have me neatly stock the shelves and arrange the nails in the neatest manner possible. Small boxes up front, larger boxes in the back. The next day I'd find the boxes gone, thrown into cartons and placed back up in the warehouse. Whereupon John would have me complete the whole procedure again. Day after day after friggin' day. School started to look pretty good to me….
Finally, on the morning of December 31 it ended.
There were few customers. Christmas was over. And - John had a NEW idea to keep me busy. The boxes of nails had increased in price from 87 cents to 89 cents. (This was before bar codes - or before electronic scanning.) It was my job to neatly place the new price tag over the old price tag on every box of nails in the store and then re-stock the shelves. This task I proudly did, happy to be contributing to the operation of the hardware department in a new - and more meaningful - manner. So for hours I stood there, replacing all of the price tags, careful to cover the old price in its entirety. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of boxes! Completing this task very conscientiously. I was quite proud. Finally...I had changed all of the prices. I reported this fact to John. He reached into his desk drawer and handed me MORE stickers. "Steve" he said. "You know the boxes that changed in price from 87 cents to 89 cents? Well, the nails have now gone up ANOTHER two cents. You need to change the prices AGAIN!" I stared at him.
THAT'S when I told John I was leaving the Whites' hardware department for good. Returning to school. Maybe I didn't know what i was going to do with my life. And Stony Brook University had four guys to every girl. Well - better to take my chances there than play games with hundreds of boxes of nails. Right? Change the prices again?
Hardware? NAILS? WTF?
Until next time….be safe!
:-) Stevenn
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