I am getting older. This is a simple fact. But I am reminded of this fact often when I go out into the world to conduct my daily errands. This is because when I return, my ranting sounds much like the rantings of my father (see Braindrops blog).
My daughter wants an iPod from Santa. So, since Ava endures a lot more than any child should ever have to, Santa got her an iPod. I ordered it on-line from Wal-Mart, since they had a sale. You can have the item shipped to your closest store for free, then go pick it up. Easy enough, right?
Yesterday I walked into the "Site to Store" department, which consist of a small counter with a register. It's attached to a warehouse in the back of the store, and also right near the restrooms. When i got to the dept., 3 young people, maybe in their early 20's, were standing in a huddle texting pictures of a recent party they attended to each other. I knew this because they were laughing wildly and saying loudly, "LOOK HOW DRUNK I WAS HERE?" "BOY WE WERE WASTED." Not one of them approached me until I asked if I could have some help. One of the young ladies (and i use the term loosely) said she would be right back with help. Well, she never returned. The texters continued and then an older man, who was also a Wal-mart employee, walked by asked if he could help. He paged someone for me, but I had little hope. Another 5 minutes went by. Finally, I noticed the credit card pad had a place to "click" to page help.
Finally, around the corner comes my a very large young man. His first words to the young people were "REALLY? You are just standing around texting and doing nothing?" They all replied curtly that "they were on break." He started to help me.
Just when I thought he was my Savior, the large young man took a huge sack of food out of his pocket labeled "Teriyaki Steak Bits" and proceeded to shove them in his mouth while he typed my info into the computer. Yuck. He went into the back room and returned with a box. He was about to open it when I pointed out that it wasn't MY box, so he went to the back room again. This time he had the right box and he finished up my transaction. Then he said, "Hey do you have a pen? I need you to sign this slip." Was he kidding? I'm surprised he didn't ask me to buy him a soda to wash down his dried meat bits.
And finally, as I was about to leave, one of the texters says loudly, "Well my break is over so I better go PEE." What a charmer; those 4 years at Miss Porter's did wonders for her.
Honestly, it was the worst customer service ever. I rarely go to Wal-Mart for just this reason, plus the stores are full of white trash, but they do have good prices on electronics. I realize it's not Tiffany's and I shouldn't expect anything extraordinary, but it would be nice for people to at least have a small amount of work ethic. So there. Harumph.
