For a while I worked retail in a mall in El Cajon. The most ghetto-ass mall in East County, rome of the bus empire. If you had no job, no car, no life and no inclination to get any of those things, you went to this mall. The mall itself wasn't that bad, and not all patrons were unemployeed slackers, but at about 10 AM, after the senior mall walkers had power walked the mall and drank their discount coffee from Cinnabon, and before the young mothers with their strollers came in at about 1 PM, there was a three hour lull where they only people in the mall were the hoodiest mall rats you've ever seen. The rest of the time they faded into the woodwork and were only really visible outside the food court where they chainsmoke cigarettes(?) and fought and snuck off to procreate more of this sad breed. Really. Appearently it's a status thing amoung them, to have had sex at the mall, like joining the mile high club, only a lot dirtier and and sadder. Once I made the mistake of agreeing to meet up with a friend at this spot, and had to stand and wait between a man with a lizard in a pouch hanging around his neck and a woman in a very loud custody dispute on a payphone.
The genuine crazies weren't as bad. There was the multiple personality disorder lady, she had her mirror friend (who I wanted to meet because she was always giggling at her mirror friend so I assume he/she was very funny) and then she had Hat On and Hat Off. Hat On and Hat Off would have conversations as she walked. Hat On was chattier. Hat On was the only one that would talk to me. There were a few more like that, but I never minded them much.
Mall employees. There is a underappreciated, depressed race of people. Someday I will start a charity for mall employees. They stand all day, sometimes alone (meaning they can't take a break) in a store for up to 8-12 hours. Most don't have cars, because the pay barely covers their share of rent in a shabby apartment shared by at least two other people and bus fare. So after a long day of smiling literally until it hurts, they spend another hour on a creaking bus to get home. Most would like to go to school or get a different job, but most are limited to finding a place on the bus line.
There is a lot more interaction between mall employees then most people realize. It's a very gossipy place and most of the gossip is true. The guys at the cell phone kiosks all drink. Really. The department store employees will only interact with other department store employees. The girls at Fredricks are.......... well, lets just say young people read this blog, so whatever you are imagining is probably right. The little guy that works weekends at Hot Topic (and just hangs around the rest of the time) is the official drug dealer of the mall. And he was in love with me for a month or so. That was interesting. He is like 78 lbs, but don't try to deal at that mall, it will not end well for you. He has the equivilant of a chemistry degree in knowledge. He specializes in 'recreational prescriptions'. As in other people's prescriptions.
There is a always a network of sorts, a 'I use your employee discount on a jacket, you use so and so's discount on a poster and so and so uses mine on this necklace and we call it even' that defies any owners attempts to put a stop to. God help anyones who uses the system, then backs out when their turn comes. Cinnabon will probably stop selling them large sodas for $0.75. And when you realize how much caffeine is necessary to get through an average shift and the cost of paying full price, you realize that that is a fate worse then death. It's a cutthroat world. Really.
And the customers. Oh, the customers. Some of them are insanely mean because they think thats bargining. And some of them, will watch a clerk try to ring them up, have the register tape run out, the clerk try to replace it with a new roll, have the new role jam, clerk find a manager, have the manager fix the problem, the clerk tries again to ring you up, the credit card register tape runs out, and the customer complains about how long it's taking.
Moral of the story, this Christmas season, be nice to mall employees. Smile at them. Realize that they have been on their feet without a break for hours. If they are particulary nice, buy them a soda at Cinnabon.
The genuine crazies weren't as bad. There was the multiple personality disorder lady, she had her mirror friend (who I wanted to meet because she was always giggling at her mirror friend so I assume he/she was very funny) and then she had Hat On and Hat Off. Hat On and Hat Off would have conversations as she walked. Hat On was chattier. Hat On was the only one that would talk to me. There were a few more like that, but I never minded them much.
Mall employees. There is a underappreciated, depressed race of people. Someday I will start a charity for mall employees. They stand all day, sometimes alone (meaning they can't take a break) in a store for up to 8-12 hours. Most don't have cars, because the pay barely covers their share of rent in a shabby apartment shared by at least two other people and bus fare. So after a long day of smiling literally until it hurts, they spend another hour on a creaking bus to get home. Most would like to go to school or get a different job, but most are limited to finding a place on the bus line.
There is a lot more interaction between mall employees then most people realize. It's a very gossipy place and most of the gossip is true. The guys at the cell phone kiosks all drink. Really. The department store employees will only interact with other department store employees. The girls at Fredricks are.......... well, lets just say young people read this blog, so whatever you are imagining is probably right. The little guy that works weekends at Hot Topic (and just hangs around the rest of the time) is the official drug dealer of the mall. And he was in love with me for a month or so. That was interesting. He is like 78 lbs, but don't try to deal at that mall, it will not end well for you. He has the equivilant of a chemistry degree in knowledge. He specializes in 'recreational prescriptions'. As in other people's prescriptions.
There is a always a network of sorts, a 'I use your employee discount on a jacket, you use so and so's discount on a poster and so and so uses mine on this necklace and we call it even' that defies any owners attempts to put a stop to. God help anyones who uses the system, then backs out when their turn comes. Cinnabon will probably stop selling them large sodas for $0.75. And when you realize how much caffeine is necessary to get through an average shift and the cost of paying full price, you realize that that is a fate worse then death. It's a cutthroat world. Really.
And the customers. Oh, the customers. Some of them are insanely mean because they think thats bargining. And some of them, will watch a clerk try to ring them up, have the register tape run out, the clerk try to replace it with a new roll, have the new role jam, clerk find a manager, have the manager fix the problem, the clerk tries again to ring you up, the credit card register tape runs out, and the customer complains about how long it's taking.
Moral of the story, this Christmas season, be nice to mall employees. Smile at them. Realize that they have been on their feet without a break for hours. If they are particulary nice, buy them a soda at Cinnabon.
2 Comments:
Wow...
~Repooc
I am working retail this Christmas, for extra money to live next term basically. It's going to be a nightmare. I work in what they laughingly call customer service.
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