Saturday, December 6, 2008

You're old, sorry, I don't speak your language!

Well its an early Saturday morning in retail. The malls open a whole hour earlier, so that means the customary mall walkers are out a whole hour earlier. I don't know what it is, but everyone is so grumpy. I have been working for a whole hour and I have already been yelled at by a potential customer because I didn't have any printed literature about a product.

This customer got under my skin in particular because he wanted to know what was new. I show him. He seems interested in what I have to say. He asks if I had anything he could take with him. Well no, we keep all the information on our products online, and I gave him the address. I offer to write it down. He looked at me with such contempt, you would have thought I showed him a video of his wife with a huge black guy named Tiny. He started into me with, you people need to keep the older customer in mind when you are trying to sell us things. Now mind you, this guy couldn't have been a day over 50.

I asked this dude, what he meant. He said that he has been to our website and he is more confused now than he has ever been. He said he came into see me today because he wanted to walk away with something he could read. I asked him what kinds of problems he was having with the website.

He said that every time we sell something to him we assume he knows how to get on the internet.
I can appreciate someone not knowing how to use the internet. I can appreciate someone coming into my store to ask me questions. What I don't appreciate you talking down to me like I am stupid.

Ok I get it. I work in retail. I am somehow less of a human being for enjoying my job, and because you are off on weekends that makes you better than me. And excuse me for assuming you look younger than you are and speaking to you like an adult instead of a child which is what a lot of young people do when they speak to people of your age group. I am not stupid, and when I try and help you understand why we do things the way we do, don't look at me like I am feeding you a line of crap to shut you up.

Now because I can't retort to you in person, here is my retort to you.

You, Mr. Old guy, are the reason this country is in the disastrous downturn it is in. Because of your lack of adaptation and refusal to learn about new technology, is the reason that you still get a paper check for social security. If you got direct deposit it would save ME, the taxpayer millions of dollars in postage. But no, because you were not able to save properly while you were in the work force, you are dependent on the money I pay into the social security system, and when it comes time for me to use that same system that is keeping the roof over your head, there will be none for me. So when you come into my place of work and chastise me for assuming you are smarter than you really are, you need to remember that I and the rest of my generation are paying your bills. Furthermore, if you can't figure out how to type in a question into a search engine, you shouldn't have a computer anyway, let alone looking at a product that will give you that technology in the palm of your hand. So I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart for assuming you know something that you obviously know nothing about. I tried to show you, but your Ben Gay was starting to wear off so you had to leave. So leave. Merry Christmas.

2 comments:

tangobaby said...

I read an article somewhere that discussed the physiological changes that happens in the brain as we age. There is a direct correlation to the ability to adapt to new situations, including technology, that has a physical component to it. I don't know if this information is interesting or helpful at all, but I worked in retail for years and it does strain your compassion for the human condition. I feel for you.

Unfortunately, I'm aging too and so cannot remember where I read the article, although it made me determined not to become an old fogie. And the day I start wearing those flocked sweatshirts with kittens on them, they can just take me out and shoot me.

Adan said...

You can't be that old!

My Grandmother once told us that if she ever had to wear depends to just take her out back and shoot her.

Well some years later, she and my Grandpa had heart attacks at the same time. Grandma lived, and Grandpa, well, we won't talk about it. After her heart attack she also suffered a stroke while still in the hospital. Needless to say this left her body in some disrepair.

Well after she came home, I was helping her bring in groceries and I noticed she bought Depends. I asked her if she wanted to "go hunting". She thought about it for a minute and she didn't get it.

5 minutes later she laughed and said, I did say some time ago to shoot me if I ever wore these Huh?

A heart attack may take her husband, a stroke may take her ability to control some body functions, but it never took her spirit or her sense of humor.