Thursday's Menu & a Retail Hell Nordstrom Story that really pissed me off.

This Jesus bus was parked in the Schooner tavern parking lot when Julie and were on our way to Sarah/louie's house last month.  I took this with my tiny Coolpix camera while we were at the stoplight. 

Menu of the Day:

On iTunes: Brandi Carlile's new Bear Creek album. What do you call these things anymore anyway? albums? cds? releases?

What i'm reading: I am still reading Life of Pi. I think it's going to kick in any minute. I'm also still reading Roosevelt's biography on the Amazon adventure.

The best thing this week: It is now light enough outside that i can run AFTER work for an hour and still get back before it's too too dark. I still have to run around the condo circle at the end of it for 3 rotations, but that's so much better than having to go around 20 times.

What I'm not looking forward to: a family wedding shower - Brian's side. I hate wedding and baby showers! Men don't have to go through this nonsense. Why should i have to? Plus i hate shopping anyway. And the worst part is we have to make small talk with the family members we don't know and then play these dumb games too, because Brian's side of the family is into that. And unlike the Louvrak side, there will be no wine at this shower. That is the second worse part. Babies and Brides Bore the Shit out Me.

What i am looking forward to: My nephew Brian organized a Louvrak family blues music outing tomorrow. We don't often go out on Friday nights, but this will be fun.

My Nordstrom Story: 

I went to leave an alteration at lunch today. I was behind a woman who was returning some clothes. And something about the way she was talking made me stop and pay attention. She was older than I am, maybe mid-60's, maybe more. Very well dressed. Nice haircut. Very normal looking. She was acting very friendly, telling the clerk that these were clothes that never made it on her cruise outing. And then she added some more stuff about her cruise.

The reason my attention was piqued (is that the word i want?) was she was over-explaining why she didn't need all of the clothes that she bought for this fabulous cruise vacation. And to me, when you are over explaining it usually means you are lying. I've been married to two liars, one a drug addict, the other mostly lied about money. You start to read the signs. Liars often give too much detail because they believe that by being full of disclosure this makes them SEEM more honest, when all they are is full of shit.

But what REALLY got my attention was when i heard the clerk tell the woman the amount of her refund. It was over $1000 and she asked her, did she want that back on her credit card? Yes, the woman did... still speaking in her overly pleasant smiley manner.

As the clerk processes her refund I am looking at the clothes sitting on the counter that this Un-Shopper  returned. There were only 4 pieces. Four pieces for over $1000! The clerk has her sign for the receipt. The woman sweetly leaves with her credit receipt in hand. (At least she didn't steal the pen.)

I turn to the clerk and say to her and i didn't even care if the Non-Shopper was out of earshot. I ask,  "Did that woman just return those clothes there for over $1000 credit?"

The clerk says nods, and does it in that way that tells me she and i already know what each other is thinking.

I pick up one of the blouses, it's very expensive, nearly $400.  And it looks like it was worn, gently worn, not in a stained way, but it definitely doesn't look crisp or brand new. But the plastic tags, the kind you have to cut off with scissors are still on the blouse. Then I  pick up the other very nice sweater. It too is very expensive, more than the blouse, also with tags. I look at the clerk, "That woman wore those clothes on the cruise and now she is returning them because she needed something dress up like this for her vacation."

The clerk shakes her head and says, "It happens all the time. You should see what people do."  She picks up the dressy slacks (probably the most expensive piece, i didn't see the tag) and shows them to me, "These definitely look worn and we can't do anything about it. We have to take them back. And we can't put them back for resale."

I said, "I bet that woman used to work retail and stole one of those guns that puts the tags back on and she thinks because of having one of those she she is fooling everyone. I bet she does this all the time." The clerk responds with something about people having done way worse but getting away with it.

We both shake our heads. I leave my alteration of Not Your Daughter's Jeans (which is a whole 'nother story...my hatred for NYDJs) and that's the end of that.

You know what, I bet you that clerk is telling that story this very evening. But then she probably has lots of stories like that to tell her friends. These kinds of things remind of that book Waiter Rant about the guy who blogged anonymously about a high end unnamed restaurant in New York City with horror stories of people who ate there. I bet this girl could write a few Retail Hell stories.

But it pisses me off that the woman got away with that. I HATE when people get away with unconscionable acts.  I shop at Nordstrom's because of their good return policy. But i don't like thinking that the higher prices i pay at Nordstrom's is because of subscribing to the customer is always right, when clearly they are wrong.

I have the same issue with working in unions these days. I don't love working for unions anymore. But i would probably be in prison if i worked in retail.


Notes to Self: 
Sunset: 5:44 pm
High temp: 43 degrees (getting colder again!)
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