"Can I do that to you?" Jeff Faulkner said to me. He was a store manager at the Newington New Hampshire Wal-mart. That was one of his power phrases. I don't know why managers have power phrases. It really doesn't help. If you have a job to do and you can't finish it in the time allowed, you can't do it. "Are you having trouble finding something to do?" Stewart Wolf remarked. He was a store manager at the Porstmouth New Hampshire K-mart. Both of these fearless leaders got fazed out or fired. It's a joke. Was I having trouble finding something to do? Nope. I was managing three departments at K-mart: Hardware, Toys and Seasonal~Garden and X-Mass. I found a book at Barnes&Nobles on Power Words. I had to chuckle. "What I need is a man for this job." Brenda Skeens berated .. "No what you need are more associates." I answered. Mrs. Skeens was not amused and wrote me up for insubordination. I was amused. Getting written up at K-mart isn't worth the paper. They type it on word processor and you type in your comments and initials. Does anyone read this poop? There are two ways to handle harassment in retail: bend over or leave. I can't remember a case where the lowly associate beat the store in court. Unfortunately, there is the violent revolt. This ends badly for the violent associate and the asshole manager. "Wild (whoever) is becoming a liability." the Wal-mart mangers liked to say. The manger will never back down. They must break the proud and defiant. And that can set off a violent incident. When I got fazed out at Home Depot the manager on duty Bill Batchelor played a Beatles favorite: Just a Little Nowhere Man. This version was sung by the mangers. I think they read my blog. As I was being walked and hearing the managers sing I thought about a classic TV series The Prisoner. The last episode has the Prisoner escaping to the Beatles classic Love. "Can you wrap your head around that?" Linda Vilder said. She was a store manager at Bradlees. I had to take a lie detector exam to get a cashier job at Bradlees. They asked me if I steel and do I like Bradlees. I passed. But, I was lieing. I hated Bradlees. It was a dump. I thought Wal-mart was awesome, until the mangers started using power phrases. I probably projected my positive feelings for the lie detector examiner. She was smacking hot! On a naughty note, the K-Mart security guy Tim was a friend and he let me watch the security cameras in the ladies dressing room. He'd sit there and say, "Take it. Take it." Then, he could arrest them and interrogate them. Ironically, Tim was stealing from the store, mostly candy bars. The funniest arrest happened on Christmas. Tim stopped a tiny woman with a backpack of baby formula she hadn't payed for. She clocked him with the backpack and baby formula was flying everywhere. I was laughing so hard I had to take a breather. The downside to all of this insanity is I know what the associates are thinking about the customers and it an't love. When O.J. had his murder trial. A fellow associate said to me, "I'd of done it for him. If he'd payed me." That was in the K-mart lunchroom. Callous, but that is retail. Trust me stay out of Wal-mart, during the Christmas madness. A Wal-mart floor associate wants to beat the customer with a plastic reindeer. Nothing personal, but Christmas shoppers don't act Christian. Just my two cents. Peace out, =+= |