Crisis Oriented

Things were going along nicely.

Well, it only seemed so because the Inspector hadn't been around in awhile.

Yesterday he returned and found, by reaching up high and wiping his hand across a top cap, that we had dust in the store so he has promised to be back every week until we learn how to do better housekeeping.

Did I mention that the weeks leading up to Christmas are the most hectic, time-crunched weeks of the year, and in our case even more time-crunched because we were mandated by corporate to hire policemen to patrol out store because a customer raised the roof with them after her purse was stolen and she learned we didn't have security cameras. So they made us hire policemen. (We have security cameras now but that's the classic, closing the door after the horse got out of the barn.) The payroll for the police preempted us hiring enough cashiers so the floor people had to do the work at the front and the back...which made things even more time-crunched for us.

Did I mention that during all this, it was decided by the Inspector that we should be devoting time to being "tested" on the upkeep of our departments? Each department was given a list of things that MUST be done within THREE days (what a joke!) which included such things as PAINTING BASES, cleaning the buffers on the edges of the bases, dusting topcaps, making sure all peg hooks, signs, and project leaflets were "in a line". (Peg hooks, no problem. Signs, no problem. But trying to get those project leaflet holders at the designated level just isn't always feasible.) And we also had to make sure we have NO HANDWRITTEN LABELS. (And, by the way, this by no means is all that was on the list. It was about two dozen items.)

This is my thought concerning the labels. If you are going to be so exacting on the store level about such thing as handwritten labels, then on the higher level, whoever buys the labels they send us to put out, should be sure the glue is good. The labels they send us don't even stick well when they are initially applied. They begin curling as soon as you lift your finger from having put them on. As time goes on they curl up enough that some completely drop off. If you don't handwrite what is supposed to be in that spot, you will be in danger of not ordering it because it seems to be a "double over or double down"-- which just means one product occupies two spaces.

Oh, by the way, I have NO PROBLEM with the areas being "tested" for upkeep. I actually think it's a good idea to go through regularly and make sure things are up to snuff", but NOT during the weeks leading up to Christmas. In my humble opinion, a good time for that would be AFTER INVENTORY, when business slows way down and our attention does not have to be so focused on customer service for the simple fact that we have fewer customers.

We had an inventory meeting yesterday and learned that we will be allowed absolutely no Sunday overtime to get ready for it. THAT IS A FIRST. In the ten years I've worked at this place, we have ALWAYS been allowed to have one Sunday to do our precounts for inventory. The reason that is important to expediting the process is that there are no customers present. We are able to do nothing but count and keep on counting all day long... no customer questions, no trips to the cash registers, no having to move out of the way so customers can shop the area where we are working.

In the past, I've weighed my scrapbooking paper on the Sunday that we worked. It takes several hours to weigh all that paper because we have to weigh each slot separately. And if the paper weight changes, we have to readjust the scale to reflect that change. I have over 1200 individual slots that I have to pull the paper out of, take it to the scale-- because it can't be moved-- weigh it, write it down, return it to its slot, and repeat the process 1259 more times.

All I can say is, I'm glad the paper was on sale this week instead of next week. Hopefully, it won't be the week after. Customers are intent on being right where you are. I've noticed that on freight days. I try to pick the most unshopped areas of my department to put my freight to price it and it does not matter where that is, it is just the place a customer wants to shop.

On a brighter side, a couple of the employees were talking about retiring. Two of them told me that the Social Security office had told them it would take 14 years before the benefit of not retiring at 65 instead of 66 made any difference. I'm not sure I understand the concept involved in that, but it made me want to find out, because the crazier things get down there, the more I'm thinking I'd like to NOT be in charge of SO MUCH. My department is HUGE and I do it alone. And I have more sense than to ask for help. With all the DEMANDS that are being made in every direction, if there's anyone available TO HELP, that person is certainly not going to be sent my way.

So, maybe just maybe, I'll check that out. I'll be 65 on my next birthday.

I was very thankful that the co-manager made my schedule out just like I wanted her to for this past week. We have our annual Fellowship Meeting and I always have out of town company for that. My first priority is to NOT miss any of the meeting. My second priority is to be here WITH my company as much as possible.

Thankfully, this year's schedule worked out such that it was going to be my regular Saturday off anyway, so my request was that I work my two nights for the week on Monday and Tuesday-- so I would be free in the evenings-- and that my HOLIDAY would be either Thursday or Friday. Thankfully, she gave me Friday.

My company got here yesterday before I got home from work, but I'm off today, tomorrow, and Sunday.

I have more company coming tomorrow and so, even with the company that is here, I need to get more ready than I was. (Get another bedroom fixed for company.)

I best be getting up from here now as it's possible my now company could be already up.